The Primordials - Rebooted
by Saidre
Summary: Sinon and Kirito became fast friends during the beta. With Asuna, they form a party as close and as powerful as any of the game's guilds. But as public sentiment against beta-testers is on the rise, how will the trio weather the storm? Can the player base survive its own witch hunt? Reboot of incomplete SAO fic "The Primordials."
1. The Prison of Blades

This is a non-profit fan-based work. Sword Art Online is owned by A-1 Pictures, Aniplex USA, and Reki Kawahara. This is just me dabbling in their playground.

* * *

 **A/N:** If anyone is interested, I am currently looking for a beta reader for my SAO work.

This is a rewrite of my SAO fanfic, The Primordials. Originally, I had planned to simply edit through my original Primordials story to get it up to snuff. The story was written when I was out of practice and it shows. Through eight chapters I never managed to get solid, separate personalities for my main characters. For that, and other reasons, I will be taking that story down as soon as this one catches up. This is going to be the story I meant to tell the first time. For anyone who read my old story, I hope you enjoy this one just as much, to everyone else, there's no real need to read the old version. Thank you all in advance for reading, and please, review, let me know what you think, and what your thoughts are on where this could go.

* * *

 ** **November 6, 2022****

 **Kawagoe City, Saitama Prefecture**

". . .The first people in line were camped out for three days! But if you're a hard core gamer, that's what you do. . . "

Kazuto wasn't paying much attention to the computer screen. The news coverage of Sword Art Online's launch wasn't too terribly interesting. It did strike him as surprising that anyone would have the wherewithal to wait three days for a video game, or that they'd have the stamina to attempt a full dive after camping out that long. Then again, he wondered what he would have done to get a chance to play on launch day if he hadn't been one of the beta testers. He probably would have just waited for the second batch of games. Most games had enough day one patches anyway. No use playing something bugged.

Not that the game was bugged, by any means. It was extraordinary. The time he'd spent playing it had been the coolest experience he'd ever had. It was literally a whole new world out there. The beta testers had only barely scratched the surface of it.

He heard a knock at the door and his sister's muffled voice could be heard through it. "I'm going to practice now. See you later, okay?" He glanced over at the door. Part of him wanted to say something. Every once in awhile he'd even entertain the thought of going with her. Still, that chapter of his life had closed a long time ago. He felt guilty for not being much of a brother to Suguha, but it had taken him a long time to think of her as a sister again after he'd discovered his adoption. That revelation, and the beating his uncle had given him when he dropped out of Kendo, kept him from ever going back to practice.

He heard the door close as she made her way out to practice. He sighed. This particular pattern was starting to get old. He needed to do something with her, aside from finish her homework when she gave up on it. He needed to be a better brother. It was his fault she was so hard on herself, his fault she pushed herself so hard where her Kendo was concerned. He shook his head to clear his thoughts. He'd do better. If only to stop this guilt from hitting him every time she went to class. He looked back down at the article he'd been reading. He'd spent a lot of time studying up on the information surrounding SAO, its development, its developers, but mostly its creators. Akihiko Kayaba was a visionary. His Nervegear technology was going to open up an entirely new wave of games. Kazuto had even started to wonder if it wouldn't do to screen-based games what color television eventually did to black and white.

His reading was eventually interrupted by a stinging pain in his finger. He instinctively brought it to his mouth, sucking on it to help relieve the pain. A paper cut. Just great. He looked at the cut, which didn't seem to be too bad, and was surprised to see a small, but steady trickle of blood. He shook his head again and made his way off to the bathroom to bandage it. At least he wouldn't be needing his hands to play Sword Art Online.

He checked the clock on his computer as he came back into his room and groaned. He'd missed the launch. Not that it mattered much, but he'd hoped to be one of the very first players online. He'd only missed it by five minutes, but it was the the little things, sometimes. He picked up his Nervegear and placed it on his head. He toggled through the menus quickly enough. Finally, when the voice command was needed, he uttered the familiar words. "Link Start!"

* * *

 **November 6, 2022**

 **Setagaya City, Tokyo Prefecture**

"Mom? Dad? I'm home!" Asuna announced as she slipped in through the house. She kicked off her shoes and started towards her room. Nobody responded, so she assumed she was home alone. Father was probably still at work and Mother. . . well, Asuna was just glad she didn't have to talk to her right now. Still, that did leave her brother. Maybe he'd already started playing Sword Art Online. They'd been hoping to try it out together, but Father hadn't been very supportive of their playing and they'd only been able to get one Nervegear and one copy of the game. Kouichirou had always been more of a gamer than her, so they decided he'd play it without her for a while and help her find her footing once she could find a copy.

She moved through the house quickly, grabbing a quick bite to eat before heading to her room. It had been a long school week, and she did have homework to do, but it was Friday, and she refused to make homework her first priority. Tomorrow it could be, but not today. Today, she'd just lay down and relax. Maybe pester her brother into doing something when he got out of his game, whenever that was. She didn't really want to be home, but she didn't have that many friends. Real ones, anyway, once they learned she wouldn't buy their friendship and company. The Yuuki name had some frustrating baggage that came with it, but she definitely could think worse lives.

She was surprised to find a note on her bedroom door, written in her brother's handwriting. "I had a last minute business trip. Sorry Asu, I know how much you hate being stuck with just you and Mom in the house. I put the Nervegear and our copy of SAO on your bed - and don't worry, I didn't touch anything. Hopefully it'll make the weekend easier for you. See you soon. Love, Kouichirou."

She sighed. He was right, she hated having to deal with Mother on her own. Still, it was rather nice of him to let her play instead of just leaving it in his room to gather dust over the weekend. He may have been trying to get her into video games through SAO, but he was still pretty protective of his electronics.

She entered her room and sat down on the bed. Everything was unboxed and ready for her to set up and get going, though she'd have to take a few minutes to familiarize herself with how everything worked. She didn't exactly need to read the manual, the device itself seemed straightforward enough, but she did glance through it. She had everything set up and ready to go in less than fifteen minutes, and now found herself sitting on the bed, staring into the visor of the device. This would be the first time she played an MMO, so she had no idea what to expect. She was looking forward to the experience of anonymity as much as she was looking forward to experiencing a new world. Both would be novelties for her.

She placed the device on her head and started going through the menus. It asked to be calibrated, and part of that involved patting herself all over. The process was awkward and she was glad there wasn't anyone around to watch. It wasn't bad, she was just sure she looked crazy by that point. When she was done, she lay down on her bed and continued the process. After a few more tests, to make sure everything was running properly, she was prompted to activate the machine. She tried activating it the same way she activated everything else, which didn't seem to do anything. It took her a moment, but she remembered that there was a vocal aspect to turning the device on, which could be toggled from one of the setup menus. "Link start." She commanded it, and the world burst into streams of light.

* * *

 **November 6, 2022**

 **Kawagoe City, Saitama Prefecture**

Shino Asada glared into the mirror with disgust as she wiped her mouth. She hadn't even touched the fake gun this time. She couldn't even bear to look at it. She shook her head. What she was feeling went beyond frustration. She thought she was getting stronger, but things were going downhill again. She closed her eyes for a moment, unable to hold her own glare. She was weak. It was almost disgusting.

She stormed out of the bathroom and stood over her bed, glaring holes into the cover of her copy of Sword Art Online. Would this really help with anything? It would be a world where she fought with swords, but maybe it would be a stepping stone towards guns. Knives and such didn't give her problems, but she'd never wielded one as a weapon, either. If she could get used to holding a sword, maybe it would help her towards holding a gun without losing her lunch. Maybe it would help get rid of the dreams. The mocking faces, the righteous hatred everyone felt towards her. Murderer, murderer, murderer, the word rang over and over in her mind. Sometimes she even joined in the mocking chorus.

She didn't question why she did it. She'd already lost her dad, and there was no way she was going to let someone take her mom from her too. She didn't really remember how she ended up with the gun. She just remembered pulling the trigger. And pulling it again. She'd just wanted to protect her mother, and now she was a complete outsider. Her mother paid for her to live out here on her own. She'd said she'd rather that than have to deal with living with a murderer. No one wanted to be around her. Even her therapists just reminded her that it was her fault for pulling the trigger.

At least in SAO she had some hope of being someone other than "Shino Asada - Murderer." And maybe, just maybe, fighting in that world would help her get stronger in this one. And maybe she'd play the role of someone who wasn't a murderer for long enough that she might be able to lose herself, at least for a time, in that other person. Even if this didn't work, it was braver to try than not. She was tired of her own cowardice.

She focused on the chance at friendship, letting her thoughts of death drift to the back of her mind. She'd managed to make at least one friend on SAO, and while she'd been playing, she had been getting better. She'd been able to grab the gun before throwing up while the beta was still ongoing. Today was a bad day. She was going to have those. She didn't have to like it, she just had to deal with it.

She sighed, laying down on her bed with her Nervegear on her head. She let herself breathe in and out for what felt like minutes, stabilizing her mind so she could get into the game without any issues, since it wouldn't let you log in with a heartbeat that was too extreme. Once she'd managed to calm herself down, she cycled through the menus with a practiced ease. She was going to make herself stronger. She was going to do this. She'd already agreed to meet up with one of her friends from the beta. Maybe they could start with one of the more difficult quests. She'd make it work. "Link start!"

* * *

 **November 6, 2022**

 **Floor 1**

 **Online Users: 10,000**

All thoughts of the outside world vanished from Kazuto, now Kirito's, mind as soon as the world of swords materialized around him. He stretched, getting used to the brightness of this world and slightly different height of his new body. It was a small thing, but it was still important in a game like this to know how long your reach was before you ever needed it. He was ready to get out and start farming, but he'd made a promise to a friend during the beta to meet her on launch day. He darted off into the city, trying to make some quick purchases before he met up with her.

"Hey man, wait up!" Kirito heard someone calling out behind him. He stopped, looking around, trying to identify the source of the voice. He turned to see an unfamiliar man in a bandana running after him.

"Uh, sure. What's up?" was the extent of Kirito's response. He was quite certain he'd never met this guy before.

The man stumbled his way forward, almost gasping for air as he finally caught up to Kirito. "You seem like you know your way around here already. Were you in the beta test?"

Kirito couldn't keep the surprise off his face. He hadn't thought it'd be quite that obvious who the beta testers were, though he doubted it was that big a deal that he'd been part of the program. "Uh, yeah, I was."

The other man finally seemed to catch his breath, and confidently strode over to where Kirito was standing, placing a hand on Kirito's shoulder. "Cool. I'm new here, you think you could give me some pointers on the first few floors?"

"I don't know. . . I promised someone-"

The stranger didn't give Kirito a chance to finish his sentence, clasping his hands and interjecting, "Come on man, I'm begging you!" Kirito guessed that his face must have changed, because the stranger changed tones almost immediately. "Look, my name's Klein. It's good to meet you."

Kirito shook his head slightly. There was just no saying no to this guy. He'd make it quick. He didn't need Sinon getting cranky on him. Besides, the guy seemed nice enough and it wouldn't hurt to shake the rust off a little bit. And it wouldn't hurt to be nice to the newbies. He remembered how shaky he was when he first started playing. "Alright. The name's Kirito, come on."

He grimaced inwardly as, as he turned away, he heard Klein shout "Yes!" and could imagine the fist pump without needing to look back. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.

* * *

 **November 6, 2022**

 **Floor 1**

 **Online Users: 10,000**

Where was that idiot? Had he forgotten about her in just a month. Sinon was running through the square like a chicken with her head cut off, her blue hair whipping back and forth as she kept glancing back and forth. He wasn't hard to miss. He always dressed very blue. Not that her light green was much better, but at least she had some variety to it. She finally came to a stop, realizing he might not even have logged in yet. It seemed unlikely, since the two of them probably logged more hours in the beta than anyone, but there was always a chance.

She swiped open her menu, checking to see what all had carried over from the beta. Nothing. She frowned, but started typing in the names of the few people could remember from her friends list the last time around. And, as it turned out, Kirito was online. She sent him the friend request and, figuring he'd gotten sidetracked since she hadn't logged in exactly at launch, started off to hunt him down. He couldn't have gotten too far.

She didn't hurry too much, though, making sure to pick up some supplies with her starter money before she headed out of the city. She wasn't incompetent with a sword, she just preferred to keep her distance. It led her to fight using a relatively unique style, but one that had served her well so far. She picked up enough throwing picks to last her a while and a couple of daggers in case she really needed it, opting to wait to pick up a sword later. She also picked up a cloak, something that she noted she saw surprisingly little of, given that most people early in the game just picked up stuff that they thought would look cool on them.

Once this was accomplished and her equipment was set up to her liking, she made her way out of the Town of Beginnings down a very familiar path. Once Guilds had been unlocked, a lot of people had spent their time on the first floor testing out everything that entailed, leaving the floor clearers with the uppers floors. Of course, since player made items were better than those made by the AI, this meant a lot time was spent backtracking to pick up equipment.

Once she escaped the stone walls of the city, she found that it took her absolutely no time to find Kirito. Tall and blue, just like always. Her gaze shifted from annoyed to curious as she noticed that he was with somebody. Ostensibly training the man, since he was getting manhandled by a. . . seriously? Who had trouble with boars? She felt almost embarrassed for the man as the pig tossed him to the ground. The pig seemed to share her embarrassment, trying to turn and leave the engagement and spare the dignity of everyone involved.

She just stood there, unnoticed by the two, as Kirito seemed to explain how to use sword skills to the man. Sinon could only shake her head. Guys. Just read the manual. It actually does help. The poor boar continued its undue suffering, with Kirito pegging it from behind with a rock. Klein readied himself then charged the thing, finally putting the poor swine out of its misery. Now that they'd finished with that little farce, she felt her annoyance returning. The two men just stood there for a few minutes as the stranger continued to spar with the air. She sighed, readied one of her picks, and slung it right in front of Kirito, embedding it in the ground just past where he was standing.

* * *

Kirito jumped back as the pick embedded itself in the ground just past him. He had a sinking feeling in his stomach as he turned to see who had thrown it at him. Yep, Sinon, and she seemed cranky. Why was she angry at him? He blinked visibly as he suddenly remembered.

"Oh, man! I can barely beat a boar and suddenly we're being attacked by hot ninja girls? There's no way I can handle this!" Klein's words broke into his thoughts.

"Wait. . . what? That's a friend of mine, not a ninja. Why would you even think that was a ninja?" Kirito found himself once again befuddled by how this man even managed to find a copy of Sword Art Online and get it working.

"Wait, that's a friend of yours?" Klein ignored the second half of the question. "She's kinda cute." He paused for a moment, then yelled back at the blue haired lady, "Watch where you're throwing things, you could have put someone's eye out!" He was assuming that was true, since he'd heard a lot about the localized damage people could receive. They'd said that, in addition to a life point system, individual body parts could be destroyed or crippled if they were hit often enough, but would heal with hp.

"If I wanted to hit him I would have, trust me," she called back to him, walking angrily towards the pair. "What on earth happened? Did you just forget that we were supposed to meet up or something?"

Klein could sense that he didn't want to be involved in this part of the conversation. Kirito had his hands up defensively as he tried to explain. "I was looking for you as soon as I logged on, I promise!" He glanced over at Klein. "He begged for help with the lower floors. I didn't think it would take that long."

Sinon sighed, but her anger was gone. "I could see that. That poor boar." Klein shot her a look at the comment, but had admit that his first fight hadn't exactly been the most dignified. "You're hopeless, you know that?" The relieved look that crossed Kirito's features told Klein that the danger was over.

"So, Kirito, this your girlfriend?"

"What!?" Sounded in chorus from the two. Sinon glared at Kirito, who was back on the defensive, "I never said anything about dating. No, no, no, this is a friend from the beta test. We worked together quite a bit, that's all."

"Cool, in that case. . ." He walked over to Sinon, who suddenly had bad feeling about where this was going, "my name's Klein, I'm single and-" Kirito cut him off my shoving him to the ground.

"Come on man, really? This is why women don't play video games," Kirito yelled at him. Sinon could only laugh as Klein made his way back to his feet, grinning sheepishly.

"Sorry guys. Sometime I need to learn to filter things. What I meant to say was, my name's Klein, nice to meet you."

Sinon was starting to understand why Kirito had been training with this guy. She smiled as she shook his hand. "My name's Sinon. Good to meet you. Now that that's settled, how about we go off and hunt down some more boar? You look like you could use the practice."

Klein didn't even acknowledge the jab, just started running off with an affirmative yell. Kirito and Sinon glanced at each other with a sigh. The man was nothing if not earnest.

* * *

 **November 6, 2022**

 **Floor 1**

 **Online Users: 10,000**

Asuna found herself surprisingly alone for a game with ten thousand players. She hadn't expected to befriend anyone immediately upon entering the game, but she hadn't expected this. She'd logged in a bit late, to be sure, but that small couple of hours had seemed to be enough for everyone to segment off into their own little groups. Still, she didn't exactly help things with her unwillingness to talk to strangers on here. She was shy around people she didn't know, which was a huge part of why Kouichirou had been planning to play along with her.

She started her day by shopping, picking up a cloak and a rapier. She'd always thought they looked regal, and maybe that was part of her upbringing. Besides, she'd always found European fencing more interesting than Japanese Kendo, though that could easily be the appeal of it being foreign. She'd never practiced with any of them before, so she just picked the one she liked.

That done, she started wandering through the town aimlessly, deciding what she should do next. People watching had some appeal, if only for the beauty of the world that surrounded her. And it was beautiful. She'd noticed that when she arrived. Everything looked real. It managed to look old without looking ruinous, and had a distinctly European feel to it. The sky, the grass, the stone, the breeze, it all felt real. The only give away that she hadn't been transported deep into the past, aside from the ever present menu system, was the runic halo surrounding the sun. It was amazing to look at, but she wondered if they wouldn't have been better served by leaving it off.

She enjoyed the atmosphere of joviality that permeated her surroundings. Everyone seemed to be laughing and chatting away. She wondered how many of these people knew each other prior to the game and how many had just met.

She found herself making her way slowly towards the edge of the city, ready to experience the combat system that was supposed to be the heart and soul of this game. It had taken her by surprise that the game would not include magic, but if they felt it would break the immersion of it, maybe that was a good thing, even if it was disappointing. The game was immersive, she had to give it that. She could feel the cold of the hilt of her weapon, the warmth of the breeze, the smells of fall day. And it was massive. She'd known it would have to be, but having never played an MMO before, found herself unprepared for the true scale of it. If this was just one city, she had to wonder at the size of the whole of the game.

She was finally outside of the city, and she saw a number of wild boars littering the countryside. One of them saw her and charged at her, but she managed to dodge it cleanly. She rolled along the ground and rose with her sword drawn, trying to remember what the manual said about sword skills. It came after her again, but it was moving so slow. She sidestepped it and gouged its side, noting that the boar only lost a fifth of its health. She'd obviously messed the skill up. As the boar came around for its third pass, she readied her rapier and felt something flowing through it. The skill, she assumed. It charged her, and this time she didn't try to dodge. She just drove her rapier through the beast's face and watched as it dissolved into red pixels. She let out a cheer at her success. The sword skill system hadn't been nearly as complicated as she'd worried, and the combat had certainly been fun. Ready to throw herself wholeheartedly into the game, she started off to find more boars to slay.

* * *

 **November 6, 2022**

 **Floor 1**

 **Online Users: 9,968**

Hours later, Kirito, Klein, and Sinon were all admiring the sunset, Sinon laying on the ground, her hands behind her head, Klein sitting with one leg parallel to the ground, one leg perpendicular, resting his hands on his knees, and Kirito standing above the two. The game was truly beautiful. The floating pools that flowed into nothing, the forested platforms, and massive spectre of the dungeon tower in the distance, it all felt so real.

Klein broke the silence. "I still can't believe it. We're inside a game, guys! Whoever made this is a genius. It makes me glad I was born when I was. It's sometimes hard to believe there was period where we didn't even have video games."

"Or T.V." Sinon chimed in.

"This is just the next step in technology. It's not that big a deal," Kirito said, though he could remember how he felt the first time he'd set foot in Aincrad. It was truly impressive. It hadn't struck him as _that_ big a deal.

"Come on guys, it's my first Full Dive! Let me enjoy it."

"You've never used a Nervegear before?" Kirito responded, Sinon having lapsed back into silence.

"Nope. Soon as I could get the money together I rushed out and got all the hardware I needed to play SAO. My friends and I got in line to pick up some of the hard copies. We camped out for days, man, but it was worth it."

"Wait, was that you on the news?" Kirito asked.

"You bet! They didn't come around until the third day, after we'd all picked up our copies. But enough about that, you guys were ten times as lucky. You got to play the beta!" This didn't elicit much more than embarrassment from the other two, so Klein decided to change tacks. "How far did you guys get, anyway?"

"Floor eight," was Sinon laconic answer.

"In two months we could only get to the eighth floor. We'll do it in half the time this time," Kirito boasted.

"You seem pretty into this, man," Klein observed, enjoying the other man's enthusiasm.

"You bet. During the beta, SAO was the only thing I could think about, day or night." Kirito unsheathed his sword, fixing his gazed upon it. "Here, your will and single blade can take you wherever you want. In this virtual world, I feel more alive than I've ever felt in the real world. I don't have to deal with being weighed down by things outside of my control. I can be who I am, and take myself as far as that will go." He replaced his sword in his sheath.

"What about you, Sinon? Why do you game?" Klein asked the second of his new friends.

Sinon didn't answer immediately. She kept her eyes fixed on the sky, ostensibly staring near the rune-rimmed sun. "I have power here. I can be strong. I don't have that on the outside. Here I can be someone different. Someone I can be proud of. I'll take that over real life."

Kirito's expression shifted closer to that of concern. He'd known her for a couple months now, and even with the unspoken taboo of talking about the real world while you were in the virtual one, it surprised him that he never picked up on this before. Sometimes all you had to do was ask, he supposed.

"We all deserve somewhere we can go to be ourselves," Klein responded. A smile softened his scruffy features. This was what he loved about the internet. You could meet and befriend people you'd never meet otherwise. Sometimes those people wouldn't have any friends otherwise. And now here they were, bonding like a trio of old friends.

Kirito broke the following silence. "You guys want to see if we can't pick off a few more boars before it's time to log out?"

Klein leapt to his feet. "Oh yeah! But, you see, the thing is. . ." the growling of his stomach finished his explanation for him. "I'm really hungry. I think it's time for me to head out for the day."

"Too bad virtual food only satisfies virtual hunger," Kirito responded, a little disappointed to see the weirdo go.

"Yeah, for real. That's why I've got a pizza being delivered at five-thirty."

"Wow. You're so prepared," Sinon deadpanned as she stood up.

"You know it! Got to treat myself on launch day. The game can wait for just a little bit." He started to turn away from them, then looked back, returning to his more serious mode. "I was going to meet up with some friends I know from another game in a bit. I don't know what you guys are up to later, but if you want, you can friend them and hang out with us later." He looked back and forth between the two. They both seemed a bit reluctant. He'd expected that out of Sinon. She'd been fairly quiet most of the day, her jabs aside. Kirito was probably just going to hang with her until she logged off. He'd have to check back in with Kirito later. "It's cool if you guys don't want to. We can try again later. Thanks for everything you guys did for me today," he made a point of making eye contact with both of them. "I'll make it up you guys later. Virtually, I mean." He offered Kirito his hand.

Kirito gave it a firm shaking, "If there's anything else you want to know, shoot me a message," he offered the man. Klein nodded in acceptance.

Klein did the same with Sinon, who also shook his hand. "Sorry about earlier," he said, making no excuses. He was who he was.

She nodded at him. "No problem, I've had worse greetings. It was good to meet you."

Klein turned and started to walk away, bringing up his menu. "Uh, guys, there's no logout button."

"Yeesh. It's at the bottom of the menu. I thought you were a gamer," Sinon said from behind him.

"Hey! I may not have known how sword skills work, but I know how to operate a stinking menu screen! Look for yourself." Klein sighed when he heard Kirito laughing at him.

"He's right, Sinon, the button's not there," Kirito's tone had shifted almost instantly to one of worry. He and Sinon both knew how serious this was, and the latter suddenly went silent.

"Oh well. It's the first day out of beta. We knew there'd be a few bugs. I bet the server people are freaking out right now," Klein brushed it off.

"Why don't you contact the game master? He should be able to help." Kirito tried to keep the worry out of his voice for the moment.

"Yeah, but he's not responding. Isn't there another way to log out of this place? A control-alt-delete type approach?"

"No. If you want out, you have to go through the menu," Kirito replied somberly.

"No way! That can't be right!" Klein proceed to dance around yelling out common computer terms in the hope it would do something, anything. Sinon and Kirito almost found themselves laughing despite being trapping in the game.

"There's no emergency logout. We can't even move our bodies to try and remove the Nervegear. We're just going to have to wait this out. I'm sure they're working on it. Maybe someone will come by and remove the Nervegear for us. Otherwise we're stuck here."

"But, I live alone. What about you guys?" Klein asked, now genuinely concerned.

"I've got a mom and a sister, so they should notice by dinner time. . ."

Klein rushed over and grabbed the other man by the shoulders, "You've got a sister? What's she like? Wha-"

"Not now, Klein," Sinon's voice came from behind the two. "We need to escape Aincrad first. Then you can worry about finding a girl."

"Hey! A guy can multitask!" a swift kick from Kirito dropped him to the ground, writhing in pain, cupping his groin. It took him a moment to remember that he didn't actually feel any pain. "Oh, right, no pain. Okay, girls later, got it." The three of them kept discussing what to do from here for some time, with Sinon contributing minimally, before a shimmering blue light transported them back to the Town of Beginnings.

* * *

 **November 6, 2022**

 **Floor 1**

 **Online Users: 9,787**

The whole of SAO's playerbase found themselves suddenly assembled in the central square of the Town of Beginnings. Sinon, Kirito, and Klein stopped their bickering. Asuna, elsewhere in the square, had been about to finish her fighting for the day, and had just finished off a boar. The teleportation caught her off balance and she nearly fell into the person in front of her. "Hey! Watch where you're going!" She flinched at his words, muttering apologies as she backed away.

There was a buzz in the air. Asuna overheard a number of different conjectures as to why everyone had been gathered. Some people thought it was some rare, limited time quest. Some people thought it was just a party of some sort. She heard a couple people guessing that they were announcing some fix to the logout system. Wait. The logout system? She was about to open her menu when suddenly the sky started to fill with red hexagons. The hexagons themselves alternated between displaying the words "Warning" and "System Alert". Something weird was definitely happening. She gasped as the sky seemed to start to bleed, a red ooze pouring from the cracks between the hexes. It slowly began to pool in midair, then congealed into some sort of hooded form. A massive, red-cloaked wizard emerged in a game that was supposed to be devoid of magic. Asuna had a very bad feeling about all of this.

"Attention players," a voice boomed out above them. "Welcome to my world. I am Akihiko Kayaba, and from this moment, you are trapped in my world." The crowd had fallen silent, though murmurs of disbelief were starting to course through it. Kirito, Sinon, and Klein had a feeling what he was going to say next.

"You'll notice that the logout button is missing from your menu. This is not a bug. This is the nature of Sword Art Online. You have crossed over from Earth to become citizens of Aincrad. This is the way the first fully digital world was meant to be. You cannot log yourself out of the game and you cannot be taken out of the game from the outside. If removal is attempted, your Nervegear will microwave your brain and kill you."

That got the crowd stirred up. Asuna couldn't believe it. She just stood in shock at the revelation. She opened her menu, checking for the logout button, and, sure enough, it wasn't there. But could he really kill them with their Nervegear? How could Father not know about this? Did he mean for this to happen? Is that why he didn't want her or Kouichirou playing this game?

Klein was looking desperately at Kirito and Sinon. "He can't really do that, can he? He can't kill us with Nervegear, that's insane!"

"He's not lying. Microwave is an oversimplification, probably assuming most players haven't done any research on how the device works, but we are wearing very powerful equipment that's sending impulses into our brain. If you take the safety off of that, you could certainly do some harmful things with it."

"Couldn't someone cut the power to keep that from happening?" Klein asked, knowing he was reaching for something, anything, at this point.

"No. Remember the charge status when you put your Nervegear on? It has an internal battery," Sinon cut in this time, her face suddenly looking hard as steel.

Kayaba resumed talking, silencing the listeners for fear of their missing some part of this that might reveal it to be a joke. "Unfortunately, several families have ignored my warnings and attempted to remove the Nervegears of their family members. Because of this, the game now has two hundred and thirteen fewer players than it did at launch." The figure flicked its wrist and suddenly windows appeared around him, each showing a different nation's news coverage of the events. "As you can see, the press has already begun giving SAO around the clock coverage. The risk of sudden death due to outside forces should now be minimal, at best. I hope this lets you sleep a little easier as you attempt to complete the game. Never forget, there is no longer any way to revive someone within the game. If your health hits zero, you are deleted and your brain will be fried."

The whole square was deadly silent. No one quite knew how to process this new information. Asuna was still grasping the fact that her father had financed this atrocity. What did that mean for her? Did she really have any right to go on when other people had died for her father's negligence? At best? No. No, it didn't indict her. It gave her a reason to get out. To demand answers. To know whether he knew what was going to happen or not, and to know how he planned to make things right. But was there really any way out? He'd said they were now citizens here. But he'd also said something about trying to clear the game.

"There is only one way to escape now: Clear the game." The figure brought up a display of all one hundred floors of Aincrad, highlighting each as it motioned towards the final, one-hundredth floor. "Once the boss on the final floor has been defeated, everyone will be safely removed from the game." Murmurs of panic began to spread through the crowd again. Any hope for a quick resolution to this was gone. Most people had some understanding of this, but those that were here for the quest to floor eight had a very clear idea of just how difficult this was going to be.

"One final detail. I've given each of you a present. It's in your inventory. Take a look." The chiming of over nine thousand people would have been headache-inducing at the best of times. Right now, it was even worse, given how light and cheery the noise sounded with everything that had just been revealed. Within moments, everyone in the crowd had retrieved the item that Kayaba had given them. A mirror. Before they could question the item too intensively, the whole of the crowd seemed to glow with the same light that had brought them here. When the light vanished, everyone looked different.

Klein blinked, looking where his friends had been. Sinon had been replaced by a brunette in the same clothes, but seemed about the same aside from her hair and eyes. Kirito, however, was suddenly much shorter, and much more effeminate. "Kirito? Is that you?"

Kirito looked as confused as Klein did, the longhaired man he'd gotten used to over the course of the day had been replaced by one who looked significantly rougher. "Klein?"

"This is your world now. You all wear your true faces and bodies. I know you're wondering why someone like Akihiko Kayaba, who has everything the world could give him, do something like this. I wanted to create my own world. You are the final parts of my masterpiece. Fight for your lives here. I wish you good luck. Go out and show us that power of the human will is transcendent between worlds. If you wish to return to your own world, you must fight for it. You must grow and change. Prove to me that my world is inferior to the original, and you will have your freedom. This marks the end of the tutorial."

* * *

 **November 6, 2022**

 **Floor 1**

 **Online Users: 9,787**

Kirito was still in shock. He'd let Kayaba become one of his heroes. He'd thought him to be a great man, and Kayaba had proven to be a monster. Trapping ten thousand people in his game for no reason other than his own amusement was unforgivable. He grabbed Sinon and Klein and dragged them away from the main group. If he wanted to survive, to get back at that monster, he had to start acting now. There wasn't any time for them to stay behind and help the newer players. He couldn't even think about that right now. His rage and his refusal to let Kayaba beat him overrode any other logic that might otherwise temper his actions. This was life and death, and he chose life. He glanced over at Klein and Sinon. Klein seemed to be recovering already, but Sinon looked out of it. Her face still looked like it was suddenly made of steel.

Her mind wouldn't stop. This was all real now. The image of the gun jumped back into her mind, the first time it had while she was online. But she didn't throw up. The images flooded through her. Her shooting a man. The life passing out of him right in front of her. The fear on the employee's face. The hate everyone had shown her. She was here to escape death. She was here to make herself strong. Maybe she couldn't do both of those at once, though. Maybe she had to stare death in the eye to be able to overcome it. She vaguely registered that Kirito and Klein were talking. Her body was frozen. She hadn't thrown up. She hadn't been thrown from the game. That was a start, but she had frozen up. No guns. No guns. No guns here, she kept repeating to herself. No need to hurt people. To escape, they only needed to fight animals. She was trying to regulate her breathing. Calm down. This was her chance. She was here to be stronger and this, this could make her stronger. The steel on her face had become mirrored by her resolve. She was going to clear this game. That would make her strong enough. It had to. She finally came back to reality. Kirito and Klein were staring at her.

"You okay?" Kirito asked her, his concern evident.

"Oh yeah, never better," she said with a vicious smile.

"Kirito going to the next town. I'm staying behind here to help some buddies of mine. We were in a guild together in our last game. I can't leave them like this," Klein informed her. He hoped she'd stay, but her expression made it clear what her decision was.

"Sorry. I'm going with Kirito. I have to get stronger. I have to clear this game." Both men were taken aback by the anger in her voice. Kirito thought it sounded even more intense than what he felt. Her now brown eyes held the same ferocity that their old bluish shade had given them.

"Alright then. I can't ask a couple of people I've only known for a few hours to risk their lives for strangers. We'll meet up in the next town." He started to leave, then turned, deciding on one last comment. "You guys look better this way. Your real faces suit you a lot better. Sinon, you're a lot prettier with your natural hair color."

She gave him a half smile at the compliment. "Thanks," was all she could muster. Her mind wasn't on appearances right now.

"Yeah, yeah, and you look better with that scruffy face of yours." With that, the three of them parted ways. Sinon and Kirito forged their way into the night, ready to cut down anything this new world could throw at them. They were going to survive. More than that, they were going to win.

* * *

 **A/N:** I hope to at least have this caught up to where the old version was by the end of the month. Once I get to having to do new material, things will take a bit longer. This will also be sharing time with my other fic. Thank you all for reading.


	2. The Betas' Curse

**A/N:** First and foremost, the Asuna arc in this chapter is dark. If you wish to skip it, the Kirito and Sinon portions can be read on their own.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to read and review the first chapter. The overwhelming positive response has definitely helped me get back into this and move it from my backup project to my main one.

For those who didn't read any of the original Primordials, this will a be long term story. I felt that Aincrad was criminally underexplored, given that they crammed 75 floors into 15 episodes. We'll be spending a lot more time her than that. On that note, this has gone from being a simple rewrite to a fairly thorough expansion. More for you guys, right?

* * *

 **November 20, 2022**

 **Floor 1**

 **Online Users:** **9,174**

The first two weeks following Kayaba's announcement turned out to be a horrific affair. Player depression spiked and people became less and less interested in fighting to escape their new prison. Even those players who sought to fight their way out were met with only frustration, with no one coming close to finding the boss room to the first floor.

Despite the fact that guilds wouldn't be unlocked for another few floors, but that had already become mostly a matter of semantics. Some of the game's more charismatic players were already drawing people to their cause. Thinker was starting to create what he called the Aincrad Liberation Front, a group that wasn't simply focused on clearing the game, but protecting the players who chose to stay behind while others fought their war. Some people were too young, some people simply were too afraid, and a few were too old. It was too late to question why anyone was logged in, especially the children under ten, it was now necessary simply to protect those who needed it.

On the other side of things, a man named Lind was beginning to form his Dragon Knights Brigade, a group that was self professed to be the strongest in Aincrad. His support was slow in forming, given the lack of success they'd had clearing the floor, and the fact that Lind himself spent more time trying to recruit than he did actually fighting, but there were a few who came to him looking for their own power. So far, however, the lack of forward progress hamstrung his group's growth, for better or for worse.

* * *

 **November 8, 2022**

 **Floor 1**

 **Online Users: 9,712**

Asuna had spent most of those first two weeks holed up in the inn. She'd earned enough slaughtering wildlife that first day to at least be able to afford that. She couldn't stand the thought of the outside world anymore. Everything only served to remind her that this atrocity had her family name attached to it. The resolve to fight her way out of Aincrad that she'd had in the moments after Kayaba's announcement had left her before she could act on it. She hated herself for that. The people who'd been slain deserved better than that.

She'd freaked out the first morning she'd woken up in Aincrad. The stone ceiling and the old, primitive nature of the furnishings didn't belong in her room. It had taken her a couple of seconds just to remember where she was- and why. Her drive to claw her way through this game had vanished and she'd been reduced to a little girl crying for her big brother. In a lot of ways, she was glad she was the one who'd been trapped in here, and not her. He could do something. He knew enough to try to work to help get people out. He'd be able to try and hold Father responsible. She missed Kouichirou dearly, but she knew she would have wilted under the pressure of having to act, just like she was doing now.

That morning had been when it really set in for everyone. The logout button still wouldn't work. A lot of people had vanished from friends lists. The air of excitement and joviality that had permeated the first day was gone, replaced with a somberness she hadn't been around since her grandfather's funeral. She'd done more than her fair share of crying in those first couple of days. Part of her just wanted to die here, like so many other had. She'd never act on it, she was too afraid, but the thought was there, sitting in the back of her mind.

She slept poorly those first few nights, the image of the red hooded figure haunted her dreams as much as his actions did her waking hours. She couldn't even bring herself to eat. She just sat there for a time, staring at the wall and thinking. Later, when asked, she didn't even remember doing anything for those two days. Maybe she did, maybe she didn't. She just knew that those two days were amongst the longest in her life.

* * *

 **November 8, 2022**

 **Floor 1**

 **Online Users: 9,656**

Kirito and Sinon kept moving, trying to stay one step ahead of the other beta testers that they knew would be doing the same thing they were. Aincrad had lost the luster it had held for them just a couple weeks ago. They'd loved the place when it was _almost_ real. When it was a place of escape. Now it was a place that needed escaping. Now it was totally real, and the sentiments they'd shared with Klein the day before were gone. It had lost some of its mystery and its majesty. Now it was a prison and their only goal was escape.

Sinon worried about Kirito. He was losing himself in combat. Sure it was helpful for their stats and there would need to be plenty of fights to get themselves out of this game, but he was reckless about it. He'd even admit it was dangerous, when she pressed him. Still, he never took on overwhelming odds, and Sinon was always there to bail him out if it was needed. This was one of those times.

She flung one of her picks through the eye of lumbering lizard creature as it tried to take a swipe at Kirito's head. The creatures staggered back one hand grasping at its now useless eye. Kirito, hearing the the thing's howl of pain, turned on it and carved it in two, clearing the last of the enemies in this area.

As he sat down to rest, he shot her a glance. "Show off. Always have to go for the eyes."

She wiped her brow as she leaned against the wall. "Just evening things up. You don't use yours, so it's only fair I get rid of theirs."

Kirito just shook his head at her. He sighed, looking around in frustration. "Man, they really have changed this place since the beta, haven't they? I have no idea where the boss chamber is supposed to be."

"Yeah. So much for clearing eight floors in a month."

"Hey, I was under the impression that there would be respawns. This muddies the math a little bit."

"Suuure it does. At least I can back it up my boasting."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." The two of them were amongst the few who were actively trying to clear the first floor dungeon. They'd known that there wouldn't be that many other players who'd gathered up the courage to help out yet, but they'd expected to run into someone at some point. Then again, the labyrinth seemed bigger than last time around. They also had the advantage of knowing the fastest way to get there and of having been the first to leave town.

One thing they'd been wrong about, one thing that gave them hope, was that there wasn't a finite amount of experience to go around. That had been a beta thing. It made the game slightly more fair if the higher levels faltered. That was why they'd foregone farming for the day. They were focused on fighting their way through this world. They didn't have any delusions of clearing the dungeon on their own, but they would get things started.

Sinon was just grateful she'd managed to avoid having any of her panic attacks since this game had started. It was a game of death and of dying, but not of killing. That had proven to be enough to let her avoid freezing up. She felt like the constant fighting was helping. She had less and less time to stand there thinking about things, and she was more and more confident her abilities with each passing day. They both knew they could beat these things. They just needed to keep their guard up.

Kirito had taken to calling her a show off every few hours. It wasn't her fault he could barely hit a monster with a throwing pick, forget a knife. She just had a natural talent for it. She didn't begrudge him his sword fighting abilities, even though she knew they were far beyond hers. Not she was bad with a sword, mind you. She just wasn't the natural Kirito had proven to be. She'd be able to find what passed for real ranged weapons in this game in a few floors. At least he got decent swords to start with.

* * *

 **November 9, 2022**

 **Floor 1**

 **Online Users: 9,563**

Asuna made herself get out of that room. Three days was long enough to sit there and wallow in her self-pity. She needed to at least eat, or her health was going to start to be affected. There were enough things in this world trying to kill her without her doing it herself. As she stepped out into the sunlight she found herself suddenly reminded of just how real the world felt. She'd almost forgotten the warmth of the sun on her skin. Now that she thought about it, she supposed the inn had actually been comfortable. The past three days seemed like a fog, and anything before that felt like a lifetime ago.

She found a cafe, something nice and public, and ordered a couple items nearly at random. She was more preoccupied with the feel of the town than what virtual food she was going to eat. Things had changed. The despair, betrayal, anger, all seemed to have settle in. It all felt a little further from the surface. Things weren't boiling over the way they had been before she'd locked herself away. She paid for her food and caught herself thanking the NPC. It couldn't hurt anyone, she supposed, but it was odd what little habits she'd brought over from the real world. She took an open seat, a wooden bench tucked against the wall, looking out on the rest of the cafe. She ate slowly, alone with her thoughts.

"Mind if I sit here?" a voice cut into Asuna's thoughts. She looked up to see a brunette standing over her. There wasn't too much about her that stood out to Asuna. The lady seemed to be of an average build, and her deep green armor seemed to be one of the items you could buy around here, nothing too fancy. Asuna was quite sure she'd never met the woman before, but she seemed friendly. She gestured at the seat in front of her, not in a mood to turn down company.

"My name's Karin," the lady announced as she put her food on the table. "I don't really know anyone, and you looked like you could use some company. . ." her voice trailed off, slightly embarrassed with herself. She wasn't the best at introductions.

Asuna gave a small smile. She'd been too lost in her own thoughts to even notice that there were other people here by themselves. Besides, the woman wasn't wrong. Asuna was certainly in the market for company. "No worries. My name's Asuna."

The other girl smiled in relief when she realized that she hadn't messed up. "Asuna? Well, good to meet you, Asuna." She let the conversation drop for just a moment so she could start eating, then resumed talking after a couple of bites. "So, do you think we can really do it?"

Asuna looked at her quizzically for a moment, swallowing before she replied. "Do what?"

"Clear the game. It's what everyone's been talking about these past few days."

"Oh, right, that," Asuna responded. "Sorry, I've been kinda out of it since Kayaba's announcement. I have no idea if we can do it. I like to think so. I'd hate to be trapped here forever." Not that the alternative was much better, if they failed to clear the game.

"Yeah, me too," Karin responded. Asuna gave the other girl a somewhat curious look as Karin looked past her for a moment. Karin snapped back to reality, and rubbed the back of her neck in embarrassment, having seen Asuna's expression. "Sorry. I just remembered I was supposed to have a history test today. It seemed so important a week ago."

Asuna gave a half-hearted laugh. "So the moral is that we need to attend to our studies before gaming?"

Karin replied with a look of mock-horror. "Anything is better than classes. Anything." She held the look for a moment more, before the two of them started giggling. For Asuna, any sort of levity was a welcome distraction. For Karin, it was the best way she could think of to avoid dwelling on what they'd all suddenly left behind. "At least Kayaba plays fair. I'm sure those teachers are out to get me."

Asuna laughed, more at the attempt of a joke than at the joke itself. She was just glad that there was still some humor left in this world. She hadn't even thought about laughing in days. Smiling, she confided, "You know, I haven't left the town since the announcement was made."

Karin just gave a nod in response, the giggles gone. "Me neither. I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I want to help, but I don't think I'm cut out for the frontlines."

"Why's that?" Asuna inquired.

"I. . . I don't know. I just feel like that's not where I need to be. Sure, I can fight, and I'll have to at some point, since those animals can actually kill people now, but I'm not great at it. I'm no good for clearing dungeons. I'm not sure what else I can do in this game." Karin was looking at her hands, folding them, interlocking her fingers. She was obviously uncomfortable admitting her failings a fighter. Asuna remained silent, waiting for the woman to pull herself together. She certainly understood what she was going through. After something of a pause, Karin did in fact recover, and asked, "What about you? Are you planning on going back to the front?"

Asuna suddenly found something greatly interesting on the table in front of her. Averting her eyes, she responded, "You know, I haven't really given that any thought. I'm too scared. I know I _should_ go, but I'm afraid. I want to live through all of this." There was some part of her that just wanted to crawl back into that hotel room and hide until all of this was over. "I don't know what to do. I think I can fight. I haven't had any issues with the combat system. I'm not even sure if I got hit when I was out there on the first day. I don't really remember, it all seems so long ago. I'm not sure if I could fight the same way now. That was when I was immortal, you know? Now that I have to be afraid of the monsters for real, I'm not sure I can do it. We've lost so many already. . . I just. . . I just don't know."

Karin put a hand on her new friend's shoulder. There were no light-hearted conversations to be had in Aincrad right now. Not that had any substance to them. "Hey, that's alright. None of us know what's going on right now." Karin hadn't checked the casualty numbers lately. She wasn't really sure she wanted to know.

Asuna gave her new friend an empty smile. "I'm sorry to end things on such a downer note, but I need to be going. I've got to figure these things out for myself, you know?"

Karin nodded knowingly. "That's fine, I understand. Tell you what, you want to meet up here again tomorrow, same time?" Karin made a point of checking the time as she asked, knowing she may well forget, given everything that was going on.

"That sounds good," Asuna replied, then excused herself. As she made her way back to the inn, she mulled over what had been said. The girl had asked a fair question. What did she do now? Did she keep fighting? She knew the answer was yes. She had to keep fighting. She had to keep pushing, because she had to know if Father had been part of all of this on purpose or not. She had to know, and if he was, she had to do something about it. She had to atone for her family's sins. So what was holding her back? Fear, she decided. She cried herself to sleep for the third night in a row.

* * *

 **November 12, 2022**

 **Floor 1**

 **Online Users: 9,323**

Kirito and Sinon had given up on the dungeon for now. It was taking a lot longer than they'd anticipated for people to start making a concerted effort to clear the floor. Maybe it was to be expected. A lot of people were afraid of the unknown, so it would take longer for the non-beta testers to work up the courage to come out that far. Still, it seemed like the beta testers should be doing something more than they were.

They'd picked out a couple of rooms in the town nearest to the dungeon. It may have taken them a lot longer than a couple of days to find the path to the dungeon the first time around, but Argo's map data was out there for free. Human reactions to stress were unpredictable, but the two still found the state of things to be odd, to say the least.

They were sitting across from each other in one of the town's restaurants, at a table tucked away in the back corner. Sinon was leaning against the wall, keeping her eyes on the tables around them. Kirito had learned not to take it personally, she had a habit of putting herself where she had the most awareness of her surroundings. He hadn't felt the need to pry into what caused that suspicion, but everyone had their own little quirks. She'd stuck with him since the beta. If she was a little weird, it wasn't like he was one to talk.

Sinon took a sip of her water, the two having just finished ordering their food. She finally turned her attention fully to Kirito, her paranoia that someone would recognize her and come after her satisfied. He seemed more relaxed today than usual. Maybe it was that they'd already gone out farming for the day, and maybe it was just that he was starting to settle into the game. She figured it was much more likely the former than the latter.

"What's with you and this game?" Sinon finally asked her friend. She'd been meaning to for some time now, since the day they'd left the Town of Beginnings, but this was the first time it felt like the two of them had calmed down enough for it to be okay to ask.

Kirito blinked at her, surprised at the suddenness of the inquiry. "What do you mean? This game is literally trying to kill us."

She gave him an annoyed look. "No way, really? I hadn't noticed. What I mean is, why are you so angry at it? You yelled Kayaba's name when you killed that boar as we escaped the Town of Beginnings a few days ago. I don't think you realized you did it."

"So, why am I so fixated on Kayaba? Aside from him trying to kill us?"

"Why is it so personal to you? We're all angry, scared, hurt, and betrayed, but you seem to take it a step further than most. Klein and I were Did you know the guy?"

"How do you know, you were pretty zoned out once he said that the game was a death game."

"Not paying attention and blind are two different things. You're not the most subtle of people, Kirito."

"Yeah, yeah. You're one to talk, Miss Needle-in-the-Eye."

"And you're just jealous. And avoiding my question."

He sighed, conceding that he was going to have to answer this question before she let the conversation move elsewhere. She was nothing if not determined. "I guess to me it was personal. I felt like I did know him, the same way people feel like they know their favorite artists or actors, you know? I'd been following him since I heard about the development of Nervegear technology. I was a big fan of his. He was a genius, and I thought he was going to revolutionize things. To find out that someone I'd looked up to for so long was such a monster felt like personal betrayal."

"I guess that makes sense. I hadn't really done much research on him. I'm not _that_ into technology. I mean, I'll use it, but I only knew who Kayaba was because I remember his name kept coming up in the news. Some kind of prodigy, right?"

"Yeah. He's only twenty six, but he's one of the most accomplished, most highly paid people in Japan. I still can't get my head around why he would do this."

"He said this was his masterpiece."

"Yeah, but you can build and populate a world without essentially kidnapping ten thousand people."

Sinon shrugged. "I don't have any idea how his mind works. So why did you yell at him. Did you think he could hear you?"

Kirito found himself laughing at the question. "No, I don't think so. Even as the GM, I doubt he could interpret data from ten thousand accounts simultaneously." He shrugged, "I guess I was just angry. Yelling makes me feel better sometimes."

Sinon gave a small laugh at his expense. "Yeah, I guess it is sometimes."

Kirito glanced around the room. He tried not to think about it, but from time to time he couldn't help but notice how few people were out here with them. Part of him felt bad that they'd gone off like they had, but what else could they do? Stay back and wallow in despair? No. They'd done what they needed to do. So why did he feel guilty? The room was far too empty, and not just because everyone was to scared to go out and fight. A lot of people had died. A lot more were going to die before this was all over. He sighed, trying to brush away this train of thought.

Changing the subject, he decided to turn the tables on his companion. "So what about you? What's with your fixation on getting stronger?"

"The game is trying to kill us, remember."

"That answer wasn't good enough when I used it."

She shrugged, her eyes turning to the table for a few moments as she thought. Kirito was about to dismiss the question, fearing he'd struck a nerve, when she responded. "Remember how Klein kept saying how lucky we were? How much he idolized us for having gotten to try the game out a couple months early? How are we supposed to live up to that now? Have you heard the murmurings? People are starting to say that the beta testers betrayed them, abandoned them? Like fighting on the front lines is somehow a crime now." She shook her head, but the anger wouldn't stay out of her voice. "We're doing everything we can to help these people get out of the game, and they turn and make everything our fault. We have to get stronger. We have to get out of here. I just wish they'd see that."

Kirito was quite sure she hadn't really answered his question, but he appreciated the effort. He thanked the waiter as their food finally arrived. He wasn't going to push his luck with Sinon. There were some very long days ahead of them, especially if what she'd said about there being public bitterness against beta testers starting to build up. He hadn't heard anything, but Sinon always had kept a better eye on her surroundings than he did. Right now, they were alive, and they were working to stay that way. Whatever she wanted or didn't want to tell him didn't change that. For now, they at least had one friend in this prison. That was good enough.

* * *

 **November 20, 2022**

 **Floor 1**

 **Online Users: 9,174**

Asuna and Karin had kept their afternoon appointments everyday since they'd met. They talked about everything and nothing, whatever the two were both comfortable with that day. Every now and again, they'd try to enjoy the scenery that had become tarnished by the horrors of the tutorial. Asuna still hadn't managed to make herself go back to the front lines. Karin had insisted on giving her money to pay for her room, partly as an excuse to meet up each day. Asuna hadn't even been able to bring herself to protest, she'd been so surprised by someone giving something to her instead of expecting to be given something themselves.

Karin had returned to the front floor, unwilling to stay behind while names continued to be crossed off the list in the Monument of Life, formerly the Chamber of Resurrection. Every player was listed. Far, far too many had gone dark. Asuna and Karin had gone there once, and Asuna would gladly never return.

The pair of them were walking along the wall at the edge of Aincrad, watching the beauty of the endless sky above and beneath them. The view was still breathtaking, at least now that everything had calmed down. "It feels so hopeless out there. Every day, every time I'm out there, I watch someone else die. I usually don't know them. I've very rarely even met them before. But I still feel like I'm not doing enough. Like their death is on my hands. Like I should be stronger." Karin had been voicing these feelings for a few days now. The front really seemed to be getting to her.

"You can't blame yourself, you know that. We do what we can to help, but in the end everyone is responsible for their own safety out there, right? You can't be everywhere at once. You have to look after yourself, too," Asuna found herself in the awkward position of playing counselor despite her own depression. At least it gave her something constructive to do while she was holing herself up in her room. "You're the same as everyone else here."

Karin's face shifted a little and Asuna felt that her friend was much more distant all of a sudden. "I wish I could say that were true," she began, "but I've been here for months longer than anyone else. I remember when the open sky was beautiful. When this game was a means of escape. It was beautiful. Some of the most fun I've ever had."

The confused look on Asuna's face lingered for a few moments before understanding replaced it. Her eyes widened a bit. "You're a. . . a. . ." Asuna was having a hard time spitting it out. No one used the term without venom behind it anymore. It had become almost a racial slur, the highest insult in the community. Beta testers were blamed for every malady in this world.

"Yes," Karin admitted, nodding sadly, "I'm one of the beta testers." She almost spit the word beta. It was her burden to bear. If she hadn't been selected for the beta, she probably wouldn't even be here. She didn't have the dedication to stand in line for days for a copy. Now she'd gone from being lucky to get a chance to play the game that would revolutionize everything to being stuck in a world where everyone hated her for not simultaneously staying behind to help and going out to clear the game everyday. "That's why I'm out there fighting. We've lost eight hundred and twenty-six people. I've gone to the Hall of Memories, tried to learn their names, to remember them, but I can barely stand to look at that wall." She took one step closer to the edge.

Asuna didn't know what to tell her. She couldn't tell her that she needed to stay away from the front for a while, calm down so she could better help people. Karin blamed herself for every death in this game. There was no way she could see that taking time to heal would help anyone else in the long run. "Is this why you reached out to me back at the cafe?" She reached out to grab Karin's arm, to pull her back.

Karin just pulled her arm away. "No. Yes. Kind of." Karin was facing Asuna now, her back to the beauteous golden abyss. "You looked like you needed a friend. It was the same look I saw in the mirror everyday. I still do. I wouldn't still be here without your help. I would have probably let those monsters take me. But just as much as it was my duty to stay here and help those who need friends, it's also my duty to go out there and protect the ones who are putting their lives on the line. I didn't. I spent too much time doing nothing, just hiding from what this place had become. I can't make up for that Asuna. When I dream, I see the blood on my hands. Nothing I do while I'm awake can clean it off."

"You're human, Karin, you can only do so much, and you've done that eagerly," Asuna tried to calm her friend. She had a horrible, sinking feeling building in her stomach.

"I could have stopped people. I could have become the gatekeeper and kept people from going out on their own. I could have gone after the beta testers who abandoned everyone else. I could have done more, Asuna. I should have done more."

"Karin, don't do this to yourself. You've done everything you can!" Asuna found herself almost shouting it in desperation as tears started to form in her eyes. "You're a good person, Karin. You are. You helped me."

"Don't tell me that!" Karin snapped. "I may have done a good thing for you, but that doesn't make me a good person. You don't have to listen to them. You don't have to deal with the curse of being a beta tester. Everyday someone bemoans our existence. Constantly reminds the world of everything we didn't do exactly right. And you know what? We deserve it. Most of us ran off to protect our own skin. They started fighting without staying to give any helped to those who were still coming to grips with reality. Most of us went off on our own to fight. Some of them to clear the game. Some of them just to make sure of their own survival. I don't have the strength to do everything I should. I can't be here to teach the newbies and be out there fighting everyday. I can never do enough. I'm tired Asuna, and there's nothing I can do to make up for this." She paused to catch her breath, her voice starting to break. "I can't survive this game, Asuna. I don't deserve it. Not with everyone else who's died."

Asuna tried to reach out to comfort her friend, but Karin just pulled away. "That's not true, Karin. You're doing everything you can. You're out there every day, fighting the good fight. You do deserve to live. You do."

Karin laughed, a dry, mirthless, self-mocking laugh. "I'm out there, yes, but half the time I can't even bring myself to fight on the front lines? Can you believe that? I let others go to die, when I'm the one who has experience. I'm the one who knows what they're doing. How twisted is that?"

"Everyone feels fear, Karin. You deserve a chance to pick yourself up and fight as much as anyone else does."

"I don't." Karin began, then stopped. "I _don't._ I've had my chance. I've been here two months longer than anyone else, and I haven't done enough. I don't think I'll ever be able to. I can't handle this burden anymore. Everyday I feel the judgment of the people weighing down on me. I feel like everyone is glaring at me, like everyone knows exactly what I am." She took one step closer to the edge. "Promise me something Asuna. Don't let this game beat you."

Asuna started to step towards her friend, but her friend waved her off. Afraid that Karin might slip off if Asuna did anything too sudden, she stepped back to her previous position. "It doesn't have to beat you, Karin," she pleaded, tears now fully formed in her eyes. "You don't have to do this!"

"No, Asuna, I do. I'm done. I don't have anything more to give. And that's unforgivable. I'm a beta tester. It should be our job to protect the newer users. Please, Asuna, just promise me."

"You tell me something first," Asuna said, trying anything she could think of to draw this out, to give Karin more time to change her mind. "Why did you bring me out here? Why did you tell me all this?"

"Because I'm weak, Asuna. Because I couldn't bear to be forgotten like I should be. Because I wanted someone to know. You're my best friend in this world. Maybe my only friend. You were more than I deserved. Don't let this game beat you. Promise me that."

"One other thing, please. What's your real name?" Asuna asked. If she was to remember her, if she couldn't stop her, she'd at least do it properly.

"Aiko Kamiya," she told her, tears now flowing freely. "And yours?"

"Asuna Yuuki," Asuna replied. Karin laughed, an honest, amused laugh when she heard the name. Asuna was too concerned even to be embarrassed. She'd been too new to these sorts of games at the time to realize that you weren't supposed to use your real name.

"Promise me," Karin repeated. "Promise me you'll beat this game. Don't let it do to you what it did to me."

Asuna closed her eyes as she nodded, looking away. She didn't see what happened next. She just knew what had happened when she opened her eyes and there was no one else with her. She checked her friend list, just to be sure. Karin wasn't there anymore.

She cried herself to sleep again that night.

* * *

 **A/N:** The OC of Karin was a difficult decision on whether to leave it in or rework it, given my sister took her own life earlier this year. I don't write this to ask for sympathy, but to say to those of you who would rather not read this I understand it can be hard, I simply hope that I could do the struggles people go through every day some form of justice.

To those of you who struggle with such thoughts, never give up. Don't take your own life. Things change. The world may seem too big, too horrifying to go on, but please, never give up. Time changes all. Where I am now is so different from anything I imagined a few years ago. It's not important to know how things will change, only that they will. Live and love and fight the good fight. Someone out there cares. Your friends care. I care. I don't have to have met you to know that I care. We share a common bond, beyond our love of this particular show. We're both human beings, and that should be enough. You mean something to this world, to the people in it. There are people in your lives that care more than you'll ever realize. Remember that, and turn to them when you need reminding. Please. Never give up.


	3. The Plague and the Kobold

**A/N:** If you're still here after the last one, this chapter won't be going quite so dark. It's also positively massive, easily the largest chapter I've ever published on here. It almost got split into two pieces, but four chapters to beat the first boss is nightmarishly bad pacing. While the reboot has certainly been an expansion, most chapters will not be nearly this size. Now our trio finally meets up and we can get to real changes soon.

Thank you to everyone who left such positive feedback about the decision to leave in the Karin plot. It'll certainly make me more comfortable exploring darker themes when they come up.

* * *

 **November 27, 2022**

 **Floor 1**

 **Online Users: 8,501**

"Kirito, wake up!" Sinon jumped in front of his prone form, dagger drawn, deflecting the lizard monster's attack. She didn't have a sword with her today, so she'd have to deal with this from extreme close range or long range, since there was no way her knife could go toe to toe with a real sword. What hit him, anyway? His health bar hadn't moved, and he was still well in the green.

She threw herself at the lizard as it attempted to renew its attack, sliding inside its guard and carving two or three lines through it before rolling back to cover her friend. She slid one hand down into her cloak to grab one of her picks, keeping her dagger near eye level as the four creatures moved to surround her. Great time to take a nap Kirito. Just great. The first lizard to move forward was rewarded with a needle through its eye, causing to stumble back, reeling. Moving quickly, she opened her menu with her left hand and threw her knife through the injured creature with her right. The blade caught it through the throat, and the thing quickly dissolved.

The next two creatures were already on top of her, obviously not planning to give her time to equip her second weapon. She worked the menu as quickly as she could, but gave up on that strategy as she only barely moved out of the way of the next sword strike. Having avoided that attack, she launched herself and tackled the third creature as it prepared its own attacking, rolling away from the thing immediately to try and reclaim the her knife from where the first creature had fallen. A well timed pick to the elbow of the fourth kept it from taking a free swipe at Kirito.

She grabbed her knife and came up in a crouch. She immediately started moving at the creature she'd tackled, throwing needles into the joints of Kirito's attackers as she went. Tired of having needles poked in them, the two turned their attention from their current quarry to her. Great. At least one of them was safe for a moment. She was on the isolated lizard just before it could get its weapon up to block. She drove her knife into it with all her weight, taking it to the ground again and stabbing it repeatedly in the neck, quickly eliminating it.

She turned just in time to tumble out of the way of the next attack, rolling right into the attack of the last creature's sword. The blow sent her sprawling onto her back. Not good. She was getting tired and they were starting to get settled in. This was bad. She was losing the initiative. Sheer aggression had gotten her this far, but it wasn't going to be easy to get inside their guards again, and their weapons were raised to intercept anything she threw at them. The only thing she had going for her was a slight leveling advantage. She could probably tank one hit and outscrap one of these things, but the presence of the second kept her from being able to turn this into a brawl.

What on Earth had even happened to Kirito? They'd been down here, trying to find the boss room for the umpteenth day in a row, carving through the hordes of kobolds and lizards, business as usual, when suddenly he was face down on the ground and she had to deal with these idiots.

The creatures were approaching slowly, making sure to stick together. Sinon chided herself for letting herself forget the fight and instead focus on things beyond her control. Right now, she had to be strong. Strong enough to save Kirito and herself. They really hadn't had too many close calls before, and she would never forgive herself for not dealing with it this time. Not that she'd get much opportunity for regret.

She reached into her pocket for her picks. She didn't have many left since they'd been near the end of their dungeon crawling for today before this fiasco had started, but there were enough. Enough to at least put these two creatures down so she could get Kirito to a safe zone. He wasn't dead, she was sure of that much. She flicked a pick at the first one, aiming low, going for its knee. It dropped its blade to easily deflect it, but the follow-up needle went straight for its right eye. It barely managed to get its sword up in time. Its partner chose that moment to grow impatient and rushed Sinon on its own. Sinon hadn't been expecting that, but she'd needed a break if she was going to get out of this. She rolled forward, ducking the strike of her aggressor and vaulted herself up, plunging her knife up through the jaw of her target, Its sword held uselessly where it had been protecting its eyes. She pushed up with all her strength, her knife now penetrating the back of the thing's head, they dragged it down, bisecting the thing. As soon as her blade came free, she leapt forward to avoid an attack she was sure was coming from behind her.

There wasn't one, which left her feeling more than a little silly. Then again, the creature she'd jumped had faded from existence, so she could stand looking a little goofy. Still, it wasn't time to celebrate yet. She was winded and this thing was angry and a bit more cautious than it had been a moment ago. Sinon knew she still couldn't afford a fight between her knife and the thing's sword. The hit she'd jumped into had knocked away a third of her health and and left an orange gash along her midsection. She was just glad this game didn't have a system by which one could bleed out. She shifted the grip on her weapon. Her options were the same as before. Get inside its sword or stay well away. She opened her menu with her left hand again, taking advantage of the seconds she had as the lizard soldier eyed her warily.

She scrolled down, highlighting her second dagger, but elected not to equip it just yet. She readied her first dagger to be thrown and the creature assumed a much more effective defensive stance. She was only going to get one shot at this. She reared back and threw her dagger as hard as she could without compromising her balance. The lizard creature moved its sword in front of its eyes to intercept the blow. It braced for an impact that never came. Sinon switched her equipment and the dagger in midair vanished only to be replaced with the spare from her inventory, this one appearing in her hand. She slung it right at the creature's midsection.

The lizard took a second too long to realize the blow wasn't coming. It couldn't get its sword in the way in time and her dagger embedded itself in the beast's chest. It doubled over from the impact and Sinon pounced. Two throwing picks almost instantly found their way into the creature's eyes. The thing howled finally dissolved. Sinon preferring to keep the one with more durability actively equipped.

It was a trick she'd used quite a bit in the beta, one she'd been surprised hadn't been patched out of the game now that it had gone live. Not that she didn't understand why it was left it, it had just surprised her. Since you could drop weapons, not being able to switch weapons out when you weren't holding one meant some players would just be stuck without weapons forever. The same issue arose if something was stolen. Or even just lost. So they'd left it in, probably assuming it wouldn't really affect combat that much and it was almost vital to the basic functioning of the game. She certainly wasn't going to complain.

Her breathing was ragged and she wanted nothing more than to slump to the ground and rest, but she had a bit more work to do. No way was she waiting for these things to respawn. She went over to where Kirito was lying and slung him over her shoulders. The image of a thirteen year old girl carrying a larger boy would probably have been funny if he hadn't been so heavy. After what felt like an eternity of carrying him, she breathed a sigh of relief as she tossed Kirito into the safe zone. If it hurt, he had plenty of health to work with. Besides, he was the one who passed out on her. Finally able to relax, she slouched against the wall next to him and let herself try to breathe normally again. She wasn't going to let him live this down anytime soon.

She was quite sure he was alive, since dead characters were always deleted, but she was worried there was something going on that they had no control over. All of the data she could see said he should be fine. He wasn't paralyzed or poisoned. That meant something was going on outside of the game. She just hoped it didn't happen again.

* * *

 **November 30, 2022**

 **Floor 1**

 **Online Users: 8,293**

Asuna kept her promise. That night would be the last night she cried herself to sleep for a long, long time. She'd made a vow to friend and now to herself not to let this game beat her. It was the least she could do to honor her friend's memory. She'd left the inn the next morning a changed girl, filled with a determination she hadn't felt before. Live or die, she was going to be herself again. This game wasn't going to beat her down. Not anymore.

She'd picked up a cloak on her way out of town. She wasn't here to socialize anymore. She was here to fight until she couldn't. She didn't have any interest in socialization. Half the time she was around people it just made her angry. She couldn't stand hearing anti-beta sentiment anymore. Those people didn't deserve the way they were treated. She would fight with people if they looked like they needed it, but she wasn't here to make friends anymore. She was here to fight.

She'd been fighting over a week now, throwing herself wholeheartedly at every enemy she could find. Wearing herself down until she could barely stand before she made her way back to town. She'd had a few close calls, but all of the monsters in this game seemed so slow to her. She could hit most monsters five times before they could do much to react. The only time she ever really had to worry about getting hit was after she'd exhausted herself, but she'd leveled quickly enough that, even with her relatively weak armor, she wasn't in danger of being killed in one or two strikes.

This day started like most of her other days had lately. Upon entering its gates, she was struck by the absence of the normal human background noise. There weren't the typical overlapping footfalls, the cacophony a thousand conversations going on at once. As she continued into the town, things just seemed stranger and stranger. People were lying all over the place, none of them at natural angles. If this had been the real world, she would have thought some plague had swept through, that they were all dead. They didn't smell dead, though, and everyone knew there were no bodies in Aincrad.

Asuna used one arm to steady herself against the stone wall next to her. Her body was still shaking from exertion. She was used to overdoing it, but this was worse than normal. She regained her footing, once again examining her surroundings. Did this happen to everyone? Where were the healthy people?

She walked over to the nearest body, dropping to one knee to get a better look. They seemed okay, but she still wasn't particularly adept with reading all the displays in this game. She sighed as she stood up. Whatever this was, she couldn't help them. She continued on her way towards the inn, trying not to let the surroundings bother her. It wasn't like anything could hurt anyone in a safe zone, right?

She was surprised to see just how crowded the lobby of the inn was once she got there. It made sense though. There hadn't been anyone outdoors, and the inn was one of the most frequently trafficked locations in town. The night had fallen heavily by now, and fires lined the room. Here she was confronted with the cacophonous conversation she'd been expecting to run into when she first entered town. Despite the headache it gave her, it was strangely reassuring. She staggered her way up to her room and let herself drift to sleep, too tired to afford the matter any further thought.

* * *

 **December 1, 2022**

 **Floor 1**

 **Online Users: 8,201**

One thing Asuna had come to enjoy about the game was the rapidity with which her body recovered. She didn't feel any lingering soreness in her joints as she crawled out of bed. She'd heard or read somewhere that that was related to a stamina system of some sort, but all of that just went over her head. She knew she needed to learn how this game worked, at some point, but for now, she was content with her new routine. She flicked through her inventory, deciding on how many new weapons she needed to buy before she headed out today. Her rapiers broke frustratingly easily, but were cheap enough that she could easily pick up five a day. Fighting for the better part of the day did have its upsides.

She started going through her normal daily routine, still getting used to the lack of any need for personal hygiene in this world. She still spent some time in the room planning her day, but little things like brushing one's teeth were simply unnecessary here. She made her way down to the lobby still not having decided what to do about breakfast. The inn had food services, but she'd grown tired of them, and the closest cafe now carried unfortunate memories for her.

She nearly walked into the armored man standing in the doorway, she'd been so lost in her own world. "Excuse me," she said absently as she tried to squeeze past the man.

The man simply moved to block her path. Annoyed, she tried going around him the other way, but he moved to intercept her there as well. She took a couple steps back, her annoyance showing on her face. Or, it would have, had she not already been wearing her cloak. A second armored man was coming towards them. The two looked similarly dressed. Maybe they were working together. They were both wearing fairly average looking dark gray heavy armor with matching green capes. It was a look she was starting to see quite a bit of around town, now that she thought about it.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but we can't let you through," the original man spoke.

"Why not?" What authority did he have? This was a public inn. If a player had owned it he probably would have been thrown out already.

The original began to speak, but was cut off by a gesture from the second man. "If you'll have a seat, we'll be happy to explain things. We're deeply sorry for any inconvenience this will cause you."

Asuna was seething, but she didn't say anything. It didn't seem like these guys were letting anyone else out, either. Or maybe people were just afraid to go outside after what she'd seen yesterday. Actually, this would go a long way towards explaining why the streets had been so empty. She wordlessly took the seat he'd pointed to, looking across at the man expectantly, whether he could see through her hood or not.

"My name is Corvatz. I'm with the Aincrad Liberation Front," he began. Asuna recognized the name. It was some sort of semi-guild. Guilds themselves hadn't been unlocked yet, but Karin had told her about a couple of groups that were already assembling, even if the game didn't officially recognize them. After pausing to give her a chance to speak, Corvatz resumed, "I'm sorry miss, but we can't let anyone outside right now. Not with the plague going on like it is."

"The plague?" She figured they were referring to what she'd seen yesterday, but she wasn't in any mood to guess. If they were going to hold her, they were going to explain. She had a promise to keep.

"I'm sure you've seen it. People just pass out where they stand. We haven't found an in game explanation for it and there's been a huge spike in player deaths since it was first reported. We've lost too many parties up on the front lines because someone fell ill at the wrong time. As the protectors of the players, we've decided that no one can be allowed beyond the city limits until this crisis has passed."

"How will you know when that is?" She didn't bother asking who gave them the authority to decide who came and who went. They _were_ trying to help people. That didn't mean she had to like their methods.

"No one has come down with the plague twice, and some players haven't had it for weeks. We're assuming it's some sort of bug in the system, working its way through each player before it sorts itself out. Until someone has gone through it, we can't afford to let them go out into the field and get themselves killed. Surely you understand."

She crossed her arms, her brow furrowed. "So there's nothing I can do to get you to let me go outside?"

"I'm sorry ma'am, but no. For your own safety, you need to stay indoors."

"I can't even go shopping?"

"I'm sorry, but we can only protect you while you're inside. We can't let people run off and get themselves killed."

Asuna gritted her teeth, then heaved a heavy sigh. "Alright," she said simply. "Thank you for your help." She wasn't really angry. She knew they were just trying to keep her alive. She wasn't even really sure why she was annoyed. It was mostly because, right when she was finally doing something productive, she had that denied to her. She'd spent too many days in here. It had become less a place of refuge and more of a prison.

"Thank you for your understanding, ma'am," Corvatz finished as he stood and walked away.

Asuna tried, but never got the chance. As she began to stand, the world suddenly went dark. She didn't feel anything for a time. When she woke, she was laying on the ground in front of the seat she'd been occupying. At least she could go outside, now, but what on Earth was that?

* * *

 **December 5, 2022**

 **Floor 1**

 **Online Users: 7,994**

The strange plague passed as quickly as it began, but the death toll was catastrophic. Despite the increasing skill level of the players, the death toll had actually increased during the second half of the first month. Too many soldiers had been suddenly incapacitated, too many allies suddenly had no one watch their backs. It didn't matter how good the players were, they were simply overwhelmed. The Aincrad Liberation Front's quarantine had saved lives, but there were still two thousand players dead, and they still hadn't even found the first boss room, let alone cleared the floor. Players were becoming more and more doubtful of their ability to clear a hundred floors. At this rate, they'd all be dead after five. A lot of players were starting to doubt they'd clear one.

Today that all changed. Kirito and Sinon had seen an announcement for a boss meeting. They'd both given a shameless cheer when they saw the news. There had been no doubt in their mind that they'd be there for that meeting. Unfortunately, it seemed that they were in the distinct minority. Despite several thousand players remaining in the game, it seemed that only a couple dozen had shown up.

The meeting took place in a seemingly ancient amphitheater. There was a man, presumably the person who called the meeting, standing in the middle of the stage. His attire was themed, to say the least. Sinon could immediately tell that the man had been grinding for a while. That hair color and armor quality certainly didn't come cheap. She just had to puzzle why exactly he went with that particular color. Most of the players who'd been summoned were in the lower rows, closer to the speaker. Sinon and Kirito chose seats significantly higher up, away from the majority of the players. On the far side of their row sat Asuna, still garbed in her now trademark cloak. She sat silently, her hands in her lap, listening intently as the speaker began started his announcement.

"Thank you all for coming out today. First off, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Diabel, and in this game, the job I rolled is knight!"

This drew some sniggering from the crowd. "Come on man, there's no job system in this game!" someone in the crowd shouted at him. Kirito was hoping the interruptions would stop so he could hear what this was all about. Sinon was more interested in the number of people who'd already gone out of their way to find hair dye in this game. There were no fewer than three players with blue hair in the crowd, Diabel himself not included. She'd opted to leave her hair its natural brown. No sense pretending to be someone she wasn't anymore. Besides, that stuff was expensive, and she rarely had that much extra money lying around. Effective as she could be in a fight, her style was expensive.

"Alright, alright, cut me some slack, guys. If we're going to be stuck here we may as well embrace it while we're here," Diabel said, resuming his dialogue. "Anyway, most of you know this by now, but it bears repeating. Today, our party found the boss room."

Diabel paused here for a moment to let that sink in. A hushed murmur started making its way through the crowd. Now that Diabel was sure that he had their undivided attention, he continued. "We all know how big a deal this is. We can't afford to fail here. It's not just our own lives that are on the line here. We have teleport crystals, so we can get out if we really need to. No, we have to clear this boss room on the first try, not for us, but for everyone. It's been almost a month, and over two thousand players have died. It's time for us to get off this floor, and it's up to us to prove to everyone that this game can be beaten!"

That brought cheers and applause from the crowd. "Fact of the matter is, it's our duty to everyone else. We're the most capable players in this game. We've got to lead the way out." He paused for a moment, collecting himself. "Alright, this isn't going to be easy. We're going to need everyone to party up. We need as many groups of six as we can get." He stopped here for a moment, letting the crowd turn inward as everyone sought out people to fight alongside. Kirito and Sinon glanced around, but found themselves quickly being left behind as the more centrally located players grouped up with those around you.

Sinon tapped Kirito on the shoulder, pointing at the girl sitting on their row. She hadn't even budged. Sinon climbed up one row and quickly made her way over to the hooded girl, letting Kirito slide next to the stranger. Kirito spoke for the two of them, having grown used to Sinon letting him do the talking. Or forcing, depending on the moods. "You got left out too, huh?"

Asuna glanced at him under her hood, but her face didn't move. "No," she responded, her voice empty of emotion. "It seemed like everyone else already knew each other."

"So you play alone, too?" Sinon's voice came from behind Asuna.

Asuna turned her head to look at the girl, then back at the other stranger. "You two look like you stick together."

Sinon shrugged. "Doesn't mean we're not solo players."

Kirito decided to step in here, not sure if this conversation was going to get anywhere anytime soon, and the meeting was bound to resume shortly. "What she means is that we may stick together, but we prefer to avoid guilds or groups. We typically do our own thing." The strange girl didn't look like she had anything to say, so he continued, "You want to join our party? It doesn't have to be for long."

Asuna hesitated, but quickly nodded her assent. She accepted the party invitation readily enough. Kirito took that moment to register her name. Asuna. Moments later, Diabel resumed speaking. "A normal party isn't going to be able to beat this guy. Our parties are all going to have to work together as one cohesive raid group if we're going to have any chance at all. Now that everyone's teamed up-"

"Wait! Wait just a second!" A voiced boomed from the back of the amphitheater. Everyone there turned to look for the source of a the voice. A man with spiky orange hair came bounding down towards the stage, vaulting several levels at a time. Sinon noted that Diabel and Asuna were the only people in the crowd who didn't look surprised. Asuna hadn't shown any emotion at all so far, so that didn't seem too strange, but it was odd that Diabel wasn't surprised. Maybe they knew each other?

The orange haired man had stopped across from Diabel. The two couldn't look more different. While Diabel had the regal, proper air of a knight, not to mention the polished armor to match, the new man looked more the part of a brigand, his armor's colors less stark and his overall carriage much less proper. "My name's Kibaou," the stranger began. "You all better remember that. Now, before we go after the boss, I got something to say. I think we all know about the two thousand players that have died so far, right? Well some of you need to apologize to them right now!" he accused as he pointed wildly into the crowd.

Both Kirito and Sinon found themselves looking down in shame. They felt the same way from time to time. Part of why they avoided other people was this exact situation. The only people who knew who the beta testers were were other beta testers, and even the info broker refused to sell that information. They were preoccupied enough with their own thoughts that neither of them picked up on the clenching of Asuna's hands, the tension that flowed into her at the comments. This hateful attitude had killed her best friend. Everyone in the room knew what was coming next. It was all Asuna could do to keep herself from darting down there and decking the man.

"Kibaou, you mean the former beta testers, don't you?" Diabel's tone had shifted. It was hard to tell if he was trying to placate the man or if he agreed with him.

"You better believe I mean the beta testers!" Kibaou raged, first at Diabel, then at the crowd. "The moment that tutorial ended, they all just up and ditched us newbies. They tried to take all the good farming locations, all the easy quests, anything to make their survival easier. Lucky for us there was plenty to go around, but that doesn't change the fact that they left us to die! They were the only ones getting stronger here. This whole time, they've treated us like we don't exist. You know what? I'll bet some of them are even here, right now!"

Kibaou stopped, his fists clenched, glaring into the crowd, daring any of them to come down here and disagree with him. He looked like a man itching for a fight. Asuna came dangerously close to taking him up on it.

"Come on out, you filthy beta testers! Show yourselves!" He paused for a moment,

giving a disgusted snort. "Us newbies need to stick together. We need to make them hand over all the ill-gotten gains that they'd picked up at our expense. How can they expect a party to trust them when they won't tell us who they are? Why should we?"

Kirito felt the bitter truth in the man's words. They had abandoned everyone. He hadn't given any thought to helping anyone except for Klein or Sinon. They'd gone off on their own. But what were they supposed to do? Not try to clear the game?

Sinon's thoughts ran along a similar vein to those of her friend, but with one major difference. She knew exactly what happened when you were willing to do anything to help someone. She remembered the face of her attacker, the blood soaking the room. People complained and complained and complained about how little other people did to protect them, right up until someone did something truly drastic, then the savior became the monster. If they'd stayed behind, the new players would complain about no one trying to clear the game.

Asuna was seething. Her mind jumped back to that afternoon on the edge of the world. The anguish and pain that she'd heard in her friend's voice. It was disgusting the way people were willing to treat the beta testers just because the new players somehow deserved some sort of handicap. No, somehow it was okay for the new players to treat the beta testers like trash, to demonize them, to bully them. That's all Kibaou's complaints were in her eyes. Begging and bullying, rolled into one disgusting package. There wasn't an inch of her that believe that he cared about the righteousness of his position. He just wanted to extort money and items away from the people who had earned them.

"Can I say something?" a smooth, deep voice sounded in the crowd. Everyone looked towards its source as a massive black man stood and strode over to the stage. The crowd gawked more than they should have. Most players in this game were native japanese, and people of color were a distinct rarity to them. He was a tall, at least a head taller than Kibaou, but lean man. His voice was calm, but authoritative. Kibaou could tell he was quickly losing his crowd. "I'm Agil. You're Kibaou, right?" Agil waited patiently until Kibaou nodded, unable to form words in the face of the massive man. "Let me make sure I've got this right. You're saying that the beta testers should be blamed for the rookies' deaths since the beta testers didn't stay and help them out. You also want them to give up all of their winnings. That sound about right?"

Kibaou looked up at Agil, a little of the fire returning to his eyes. "Yeah, you got that right."

Agil reached into his pocket and produced a small, leatherbound book. "The stores have been handing these out ever since day one. No charge. It's the guide book. You got one, didn't you?"

"Yeah, sure, I got one," Kibaou snarled. "I'm not sure what this has to do with anything, though."

"See, that's the funny thing. It was written by an ex-beta tester. It's the beta testers who have been making sure they stay updated, too." The audience started murmuring at that. Kibaou could tell he was losing. He was furious, but he couldn't say anything. Agil wasn't wrong.

Agil stepped away from Kibaou, turning to face the crowd. "Look, everyone has had equal access to this material. A lot of people still died. Some people got careless, some people got unlucky, and some just weren't cut out for this game. We have no way of knowing how many new players and how many ex beta testers have passed away, we just know that the total between the two is over two thousand." He paused a moment, surveying the crowd, making a point to at least look at everyone assembled, if not make eye contact. "We're not here to point fingers. I'm here to learn from their mistakes so I can get through this thing in one piece. You should be here for that too. We need to figure out how to beat the boss, not beat each other. Agil turned back to look at Kibaou. He didn't say anything. No need to rub the kid's nose in it.

Kibaou, for his part, just slung himself down into the first row. Agil shrugged, then walked back to his former seat. The tension that had filled the crowd was gone now. Kirito and Sinon were able to look up again. Asuna's hands slowly relaxed. One of the nice things about this world was that you didn't feel pain when you dug your nails into yourself.

Diabel had returned to center stage, ready to resume his speech. "Anyone else have anything they need to get off their chest?" When the crowd gave no response, he nodded and continued. "Since Agil was so kind as to bring it up, why don't we all get out our guide books?" There was a brief rustling through the crowd as the assembled players did just that. Once everyone was finished, Diabel continued, "All the information we have on the boss is in here. According to the beta testers, the boss's name is Illfang, the Kobold Lord. He has the ability to continually spawn minions, the Ruin Kobold Sentinels. The sentinels themselves shouldn't be too much trouble, but we can't have them distracting our heavy hitters. Our support groups will have to keep them off of us. As for Illfang himself, he has an axe, a buckler, and four bars of health. Once the last one turns red, he switches to a curved sword type weapon called a Talwar, and he gets a whole new set of attacks." He closed the book. "We're going to need to be careful out there. That's all for the briefing. As for the loot, things will be distributed automatically. The party that kills the boss will get the experience, and anyone who gets an item can keep it. Any objections?" He waited for a few moments, letting the silence speak for itself. "Good, then we leave tomorrow at ten in the morning. Meeting adjourned."

The crowd began to disperse immediately, the excited chatter of a half dozen conversations filling the air. Kirito and Sinon sat in silence for a few moments, taking in what all had been said. It wasn't a topic they enjoyed talking about, and they'd done their best to avoid it where they could. Still, having the accusations thrown in their faces like that stung more than anything they could have said between themselves.

Sinon recovered first, standing and gazing out into the crowd. Diabel and Kibaou seemed to be getting along quite well. Maybe that was why Diabel hadn't been surprised. If the two were friends, he was certain to have heard the rant before. Still, his expression hadn't been one of apology or exasperation. Whatever he'd felt, he'd hidden it well. She shrugged. It was probably nothing more than an interesting reaction she'd noticed while people watching. She was more worried about Kibaou. He didn't seem like the type to let something like this go so easily. At least Agil had been willing to stand up for them. Words couldn't express her appreciation for that.

Asuna felt exhausted. Her body had gotten so tense during Kibaou's ranting that the release of that tension had physically drained her. She stood, wordlessly, and took her leave of the stadium. It wasn't that she was trying to be mean, but she wasn't in the mood to be around people, even if she partying with them. She'd meet up with them in the morning at ten at the staging ground.

Kirito was too surprised to say anything as their companion walked away. He definitely didn't understand that girl. Not that he really had all that much to work with, after all, he'd just met her. He was sure she had her reasons. He and Sinon certainly weren't the most actively social of people.

"You think they're ready for this?" his brunette friend's voice cut into his thoughts.

Kirito gazed down at the myriad players below them. The all seemed so happy all of a sudden. Hopefully they'd look the same tomorrow once Illfang had gone down. Hopefully they'd all still be there. "Yeah, I think they are. We just need to hope the fight the boss and not each other."

* * *

There were festivities in the town square that night. One last hurrah for all the raiders who were going out tomorrow. It wasn't that anyone expected to die, just that quite a few of their number wanted to make sure they lived it up tonight. Diabel and Kibaou were with their own party. Kirito and Sinon kept themselves on the edges of thing, still preferring anonymity. They hadn't seen Agil and Asuna, but at least one of them was probably around somewhere.

Sinon was surprised at how similar it was to gathering that had been held during the beta. There was slightly heavier air of foreboding, but even back then there'd been a desire to enjoy one's self the night before a major trial. It had never really been her thing though. "I'm doing some last minute shopping, want anything?" She announced to her partner.

Kirito shook his head. "Food, I guess. Nothing unusual."

"Alright, the boring for you, needles and such for me." She pushed herself off the wall they'd been supporting and started walking away. This was the main burden of her fighting style. She used up most of their inventory, since a lot of her weapons were one use items, so she got to be the one to replace things. It was fair enough, if sometimes annoying. "I think I'll be turning in after I finish shopping. If you want to do any last minute stuff before then, give me a heads up."

"Alright, thanks. I'm not sure how much longer I'll stick around myself."

"Well, before you go, be sure to check up on our new party member, will you?" Sinon requested of him, having just spotted the girl eating alone in an alley just off the square. "It might help us if we knew her a little bit better by tomorrow. At least enough to know she won't vanish again."

Kirito had been having similar thoughts, but as far as he could tell, the girl was a no show. He glanced around again, seeing if he could spot her, but to no avail. Sinon cleared her throat, pointing down an alley off to his left. He nodded and started towards it as Sinon went on her way. He sometimes wondered if all she did was shop on these little excursion of hers, but that wasn't really any of his business. He sent her enough money to cover his needs, and she made sure he got what he asked for. Everything else was her business.

He found Asuna eating alone, sitting on a bench. She seemed to be having a hard time eating a particularly flavorless roll, if the look on her face was to be believed. She didn't notice him walking over to her. "Those are pretty good, aren't they?" he asked her, making his presence known.

She looked up at him, but she said nothing. He'd expected no less from her at this point. She went back to her food, and he took this as her granting her permission. She slid a couple feet away as he did, but didn't leave. He assumed this wasn't personal, and she seemed at least willing to tolerate his presence. That was a start. He produced a roll of his own and joined her in eating.

"Where's your friend?" she finally asked him.

"She's out shopping. Wanted to make sure we had everything we needed for the raid tomorrow. Do you need anything? I'm sure she could pick up a couple things for you if you'd pay her back."

Asuna shook her head, returning to her food. Did he really make his friend do all the shopping? That seemed like an unfair relationship. Then again, maybe the girl had just wanted to be alone. That happened to everyone from time to time. She turned her mind away from his companion and back to what he said earlier. "Do you really think these taste good?" To her they were about as bland as something could get.

"Yeah," he said with his mouth full, looking over at where her eyes should be. How did she even see with that thing on? It almost covered her nose. He swallowed before continuing. "I think I've eaten one everyday since I came to this town. 'Course, I got a trick to make it taste better." He went into his item storage and produced a small jar.

"What's that?"

Kirito put the jar down between the two of them. "Try it with some of that, see if it helps."

Asuna tapped the top of the jar and bright light surrounded her finger. She touched the top her roll, and butter spread out from her fingertips. "Butter?" She asked in surprise, the first time she'd shown emotion around Kirito.

He didn't answer immediately, instead buttering his own roll the same way she had. The jar broke into a scattering of pixels when he'd finished. Apparently he'd been telling the truth about using it every day. He took a noisy bite from his roll, waiting for her to do the same.

She looked at her food for a moment. Honestly, since Karin had passed, she'd almost forgotten that strangers were capable of kindness. She'd spent too much time listening to people like Kibaou, people who wanted to lay the blames for all their problems on others. That she found herself taken aback by something so simple as being offered butter was a sign of just how much had changed since she'd become stuck here. She tentatively took a bite from her own roll. He wasn't wrong; it was much better.

Kirito slowed his own eating so he could observe her. He still couldn't figure her out. If she was this shy, why had she gone to the players' meeting? Before he had time to think any further, she wolfed down what was left of her roll, nearly shoving what was left of it into her mouth. He found himself smiling at her. Finally, some enthusiasm.

She took a deep breath once she'd swallowed. She'd surprised herself with how fast she'd eaten, but she really hadn't eaten anything but the blandest food this game had to offer so far. She hadn't wanted to have any ties to it, any enjoyment of it, that might distract her from trying to clear it.

"I got it from a quest called 'The Heifer Strikes Back'. It's a quest in the village before this one. You want to know how to do it?"

Asuna shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I'm not here for the food."

Kirito blinked in response. That sounded almost conversational, at least for her. "Why are you here?"

"So I don't lose sight of who I am. I don't want to lock myself in a room in the Town of Beginnings and slowly rot away. I'd rather stay the way I am until the last moment." She clasped her hands, "Even if a monster beats me and I die, I won't lose to this game or this world. No matter what."

Kirito threw another piece of bread into his mouth."Well, I wouldn't want a party dying on me. I don't see how that isn't losing to this game. We're going out there to win tomorrow, alright?"

* * *

 **December 6, 2022**

 **Floor 1**

 **Online Users: 7,994**

The raiding group met up the next day in the forest surrounding the dungeon, an atmosphere of nervous excitement and grim determination permeating the group. They all knew that this was going to be unlike anything they'd faced before. They also knew this was the first step on the long journey home. It was time to move on. Floor one had done more than enough damage.

Kirito, Asuna, and Sinon were at the very back of the group, since they were the smallest party. They were only party present that didn't have six people, so it was ostensibly for their safety. They didn't mind, it made it easier to talk without being interrupted by the people around them.

"Alright, let's go over it one more time. We're just back up this time around. Our job is just to keep the Sentinels off the rest of the party while they slowly grind down the boss," Kirito was explaining.

"I know," Asuna responded, having returned to the monotone Kirito had become used to before their small bit of bonding over butter.

"Escort duty isn't that complicated," Sinon intoned. Kirito opted to ignore her. The dialogue was more for his own nerves and to be sure Asuna was ready for what was to come.

"I'll use my sword skills to knock their weapons out of the way, then you switch in, got it?" Kirito was trying to look Asuna in the eye, again growing annoyed with her cloak.

"What's a switch?" Asuna responded, completely serious.

Kirito and Sinon's eyes both widened. She didn't know what switching was? That wasn't even a game mechanic. Sinon was pretty sure it was self-explanatory.

Kirito had a bit more patience than that. "Alright, be honest here, is this the first time you've been in a party?"

Asuna nodded in the affirmative, and Kirito was too stunned to move. Sinon laughed heartily and grabbed him by his shirt and dragged him along behind them, unwilling to leave him behind. Sinon decided she liked Asuna. She seemed nice enough when she talked, though she was even less talkative with strangers than Sinon herself, which took some doing. Anyone who had the audacity go to a boss fight without ever being in a party before was bold enough to be in her good books. They'd make sure she got out alright. She and Kirito knew what they were doing. "Congrats. It takes a lot to make him speechless," she told Asuna. Asuna didn't reply, but her body language made her embarrassment clear as day. "Don't worry, we all have a first party. A switch is just trading places with a party member. If they're having a hard time, you jump in there and save them. Gives party members time to heal and keeps people at least a little fresh."

"I understand," was Asuna's response. "So if he and I are going to be switching out, what are you going to be doing?"

Kirito had recovered enough to speak at this point, cutting in before Sinon could respond. "She'll be doing her eye thing, like usual."

Asuna raised her eyebrow at the brunette before remembering that they couldn't see her face. Sinon sensed her confusion and offered, "I throw things really well. Don't worry, I can always switch in if you guys need me to."

Asuna just had to wonder what she'd gotten herself into. Still, it was nice to be around friendly faces for a change.

* * *

They were finally here. They'd marched and fought for most of the day, though thankfully the battles had been little more than light skirmishes, and now they were finally at the inner sanctum of the tower. Tired as they were, very few of the players were resting. Asuna, Sinon, and Kirito had been instructed to stay in the middle of the group, since players had been worried for the safety of the half-party and didn't see any need to put them in danger when there were several other full parties on hand. They were standing in the back, near the far wall, listening to Diabel speak.

"Alright everyone, this is it. We've come too far to lose now!" Grim determination showed on the face of every fighter in the room as Diabel pushed on the massive double doors.

The doors swung open slowly on their own after his initial push. They revealed a large, darkened throne room with pillars regularly lining the walls. At the far end sat a massive, fat, kobold. The monsters was easily several times the size of any of the players. He seemed to have been sleeping when they entered. His eyes suddenly glowed red as the fat creature lifted himself from his chair. They could see the gleam from across the room. Diabel and the point squad were the first inside. Once they'd gone ten or so yards into the room, everything changed. The walls seemed to light up and what had once been stone was replaced with a swirling rainbow of color.

Illfang leapt forward and landed about half the distance of the throne room ahead of Diabel and his party, roaring in out his challenge. Everyone who had been distracted by the light show suddenly had their attention right back where it needed to be. His sentinels spawned next to him: three armored, helmed kobold wielding maces larger than their heads. The lord himself wore only a loincloth, shin guards, bracers, and a helmet. While the sentinels' faces were covered, Illfang's face was exposed, his red eyes glowing with primal hatred. He bore a shield and an enormous axe, one in each hand. With wicked purpose in their movements the four beasts charged their attackers.

Diabel drew his sword and pointed it at the beasts, yelling, "Charge!" Several parties did exactly as he ordered, charging straight at the oncoming monsters. Kibaou was the first to engage the enemy, crossing blades with one of the sentinels before being pushed back as another player switched with him. Diabel was barking orders, sending the parties to engage Illfang in waves, trying to keep as many players healthy as possible. The early going yielded no casualties on either side. Diabe looked in Kirito's direction, still barking orders, "Squads D, E, and F, keep those things off us!"

"No problem!" Kirito responded, charging at the Sentinels. The sentinel jumped at him, swing its mace down hard at his head. Kirito swung upward, catching its mace and sending it sprawling backwards with his counterstrike. "Switch!" He'd barely finished yelling it when he saw Asuna running past him.

"Got it!" Asuna responded, dashing past Kirito and laying into the attacking Sentinel, her blade seeming to glow continuously green as she triggered skill after skill. Kirito found himself in awe of her sheer speed. How had someone this good never even been in a party before? The sentinel staggered back and dissolved into pixels.

Even Sinon had to admit she had a hard time following Asuna's sword. She had been mostly sidelined by the presence of armor on their enemies. It wasn't that her weapons were completely ineffective, but throwing picks worked best on unprotected weak points, and trying to retrieve a knife in this chaos was a losing battle. She moved to her back up duty of keeping an eye on the whole battlefield. They were winning, but the Sentinels kept respawning. They needed to finish this before the players started to wear down.

A sentinel that had been fighting another group disengaged and went after Kirito, who was busy marveling at Asuna's grace. It leapt at him, and she took that opportunity to tag it in the shoulder with one of her needles. It didn't do much damage, but it altered the creature's course and sent it tumbling down next to Kirito. "Pay attention!" she yelled at him as she drew her knife, ready to engage if she needed to. Kirito killed the thing before she could get there, taking her warning to heart.

Illfang's howl cut through the room. Everything seemed to freeze. Even the sentinels stopped and stared as their master raged. His final bar of health had hit its critical stage. He stood there for a moment, towering over the crowd as he drew his second weapon.

"I've got this!" Diabel shouted, sprinting across the room at the king, sword drawn. Diabel's charge pulled Kirito's attention away from the battle for a moment. This wasn't the plan. They were supposed to group up and take down Illfang with the safety and power of numbers. It was Diabel's plan, how could he have forgotten. He heard the hiss of a needle flying past his ear and turned to see a Sentinel standing in front of him, clutching its face. Seriously? Kirito couldn't believe it, but it looked like Sinon had managed to hit one of these things in the eye despite the faceplate. "Pay. Attention!" he could hear Sinon yelling as Asuna dashed in to finish the job the other girl had started.

"Show-off!" Kirito yelled back at Sinon as he and Asuna stood to look for the next Sentinel to go after. The Sentinels finally seemed to have been swept up, the last having gone after him thinking he'd be an easy target. Much as she gave him a hard time, he never worried too much about his life while Sinon was watching his back. She just didn't miss very much.

The whole of the room seemed to be watching Diabel's attack now, as Illfang reached down and drew an extremely long, straight blade. That set off panic bells for Kirito and Sinon. He hadn't had that last time. How had no one noticed that his secondary weapon wasn't curved? "Wait! Stop! That's not a Talwar!" Kirito called out to Diabel, but too late. Illfang, showing implausible athleticism for a beast of his size, jumped up and began leaping from pillar to pillar. Diabel couldn't keep track of him. Illfang dropped down from the sky directly behind Diabel, who took just a second too long to turn around. The red beast's nodachi carved down through him slinging him backwards. Before Diabel could hit the floor, Illfang dashed past him, striking him hard enough to redirect him, sending Diabel smashing into the ground on the far side of the room, near where Kirito and Asuna were standing.

Kibaou and the rest of Diabel's squad didn't have time to rush to his aid, however, as Illfang was already on top of them. As a group, they were faring far better than Diabel had, but they were in the fight of their lives, and they knew it.

Kirito produced a healing potion as he ran towards their fallen commander, trusting Sinon to keep anything from jumping him while his back was turned. Asuna remained where she was, choosing not to abandon her party members to join the battle. Kirito slid to a halt next to Diabel, trying to give him the healing potion. "What were you thinking? You knew the plan."

Diabel pushed the potion away. "You know why," he gasped out. "You were a beta tester, too."

Kirito was too shocked to even wonder how Diabel had figured that out, though later he'd realize it was likely that Diabel just remembered the name from somewhere. "You were after the last attack bonus.

Diabel grimaced in pain. "Please. . ." he began, his words coming haltingly now, "You have to. . . have to beat him." The death aura was starting to form around him as he spoke, and both of them knew he'd be deleted before very long. "You have to. . . for everyone." Then he shattered, his character deleted from the game.

Kirito was still cradling the empty air, trying to come to terms with what had just happened. Anyone who could spare the moment was staring at him, still cradling the air where Diabel had been. Even the ones dueling the Kobold Lord attempted sneak a glance between parries. It took a moment, but the group recovered, remembering what was on the line. Now they had even more reason to fight. They were going to clear this floor in honor of Diabel.

Kirito stood, his mind taking a similar tack. Diabel had been a beta tester, just like him, but he'd been willing to give his life the new players. His death would not, could not be in vain. He was glaring at Illfang now. Asuna, who seemed to appear from nowhere, was suddenly standing next to him. "I'm with you," Asuna announced.

Sinon reached the pair of them shortly after. "I've got four needles and one knife left. You get me targets, I'll make them count."

Kirito nodded, then turned back to Asuna. "Alright, let's do it." They took a moment, steeling themselves, then charged headlong at Illfang. "We'll take him down the same way we took out his Sentinels, got it?" he told her. He thought he could see her nodding in agreement as they ran. She certainly didn't argue.

Illfang reeled on them as he swatted away a pair of players from one of the larger parties, having taken a few seconds to notice his new attackers. The monster's blade glowed as if it was reading its own sword skill as it eagerly awaited the two's assault. Kirito gave out a primal scream as he and Illfang crossed blades. Kirito slid backwards from the impact, but managed to send Illfang's Nodachi high above his head. "Switch!"

Asuna dashed past him, but Illfang's recovery was much faster than either had predicted. She barely heard Kirito call her name as she narrowly ducked Illfang's counterattack. The blow was so close that it tore apart her faithful cloak, leaving her unencumbered for the first time in weeks. She screamed at the kobold as she stabbed the it repeatedly in its side, sending him sprawling backwards. She didn't notice the reactions that her appearance elicited.

Kirito was stunned by what he saw. She her face had a fearsome beauty to it that he'd never expected to encounter in person. The cloak had made her seem so timid, but now, as she danced around Illfang, orange-red hair flowing freely around her before finally settling down to her knees, a look of sheer determination in her eyes, he found himself unable to look away. "Wake up!" he heard Sinon call out from behind him. Part of him hated her eyes sometimes. He wouldn't heard the end of this.

But she was right. They had a job to do. "He's coming back!" Kirito called out to her as he picked himself up off the ground. He charged the kobold king, again catching the thing's sword with his own. This time Asuna slid in before Illfang could regain his balance, gouging him several times in the side with her rapier. Illfang tried to bring his nodachi down on her, but Kirito jumped back in, still playing defense. Kirito and the monster dueled for a couple seconds, rapidly exchanging blows. Parry, swing, parry, swing. On the third iteration, the kobold faked a strike, switching his angle attack as Kirito moved to deflect the attack he'd been expecting. The new attack caught Kirito completely by surprise and caught him square in the chest. The blow threw him back into Asuna, and knocked them both to the ground. Kirito had lost his sword on impact and could hear it skittering to a stop a ways to his left. As Asuna climbed over Kirito, she could see that his health was half gone. Had he really been hit that hard?

Moments later, the massive being was looming over them, its nodachi raised, ready to cleave them in two. As the beast brought it down with killing intent, Asuna heard a woman yelling and suddenly Illfang had dropped to one knee, a dagger protruding from the other. He pulled it out and tossed it aside, but Sinon had bought them the time they needed. An axe caught Illfang across the chest as Agil rushed over to protect them. Sinon didn't say anything, but switched her equipment to her rarely used sword and joined Agil in the attack, swinging after the knee she'd just hit. They couldn't afford to give him time to recover.

The other players came charging in to help, keeping the boss on his back foot. Sinon narrowly avoided a powerful swing from Illfang, his sword cracking the tile where she'd been standing a second before. She melded into the crowd, becoming just another sword in the legion, holding off Illfang but not showing anywhere near the same skill with a sword as two other party members. "We can hold this thing off until your health's back up," Agil informed the told Asuna and Kirito, before charging in himself.

Agil and a few other players had Illfang pinned, but only for a moment. With a mighty roar, the king slapped the group away with the flat of his blade and coiled, readying to jump. Knowing she had to do something to keep people from dying, Sinon jumped at him and buried her sword into the creature's knee. She was batted away immediately, causing a huge drop in her health, but the blade embedded itself significantly deeper than her knife had and she had more than enough health to weather one blow. "Asuna, Kirito, finish him now!" she yelled to them from her position on the ground. Illfang was already reaching to pluck the sword out, and she had a suspicion that the injury, even from two blows to the same knee wouldn't slow him down as it should.

"You got it, Sinon," Kirito called back as he tossed aside an empty potion bottle. He didn't take his eyes off Illfang this time. It wasn't clear how many more chances they were going to get. "Come on Asuna, let's put this thing down." He didn't wait for her to respond before charging after the creature.

"You got it!" Asuna's voice came from beside him. She'd caught up immediately and now matched him step for step. The both ran low to the ground, swords pointed at Illfang, eager to strike. The monster had finally pulled Sinon's sword out of its knee and tossed it aside. He was now standing poised, ready to finish off these two pests. He brought his sword down at Kirito, who once more blocked for Asuna. She stepped around her partner, stabbing the beast in the chest repeatedly. It reeled and Kirito took this opportunity to dash around Asuna, carving a long orange gash from the beast's shoulder to hip. The monster staggered, and that was enough opening for Kirito to finish the thing. Launching himself, he dragged his sword through the creature's body, carving from the hip up through its skull. The blow lifted the beast off the ground. It seemed to float, suspended in the air until it finally died, shattering into millions of shining pieces. Celebration broke out throughout the room as the word "Congratulations!" materialized in the air in front of them. The room's brightly lit walls faded back to cold stone without their master to command them.

Sinon switched her equipped weapon from her sword to her remaining knife as walked over to where Kirito was still kneeling, catching his breath. Her sword vanished in a flash of light, returning to her inactive inventory. Asuna joined them shortly. "Nice job out there," Sinon said to the two of them. She was sad she couldn't have done more in close quarters than she had, but when the two of them fought, it didn't seem like anyone else in the room was really relevant anymore. She smiled at Asuna, putting one hand on her shoulder. "You were scary fast. That was sweet."

"Thanks. I guess I know what he meant by 'eye thing' now." Asuna was still just taking in everything that had happened. It had been the toughest battle of her life, but she'd gotten through it. What's more, she'd seemed to fit in perfectly with these two, at least on the battlefield. She hadn't let herself get to know them very well, but she got along with them pretty well so far off the battlefield, too. Still, there was something that was bugging her that she couldn't quite put her finger on.

"Thanks Sinon. Yeah, you guys were pretty good yourselves," Kirito congratulated them from his place on the floor. He wasn't all that interested in standing up right now. He was wiped. That, and still had the small issue of the rare item Illfang had dropped.

Agil made his way over to the group, having managed to extricate himself from the rest of the raiders. "That was some fine swordsmanship. We owe you guys. We couldn't have done this without you."

"No. . ." Kirito began. He couldn't continue. The roars of approval from the crowd drowned him out. Kirito was speechless. He glanced up at Sinon, who just shrugged and gave him a look that he could only interpret as 'just roll with it.'

Then a shout broke through the commotion. "Stop cheering!" It was Kibaou. Sinon steeled herself. She knew this couldn't be good. Kirito and Asuna had similar thoughts. "Stop acting like he's some kind of hero! Why'd you do it, huh? Why'd you let Diabel die?" Kibaou was crying.

"Let him die?" Was Kirito's perplexed response. Whatever he'd done, he certainly hadn't _let_ Diabel die. He'd been forced to watch as the man vanished in his arms.

"That's what I said. Admit it, you knew what the boss was gonna do. You could have told us! Then Diabel would have stood a chance. He didn't have to die!" Kibaou's anger was starting to catch fire in the crowd.

Another member of the crowd spoke up. "Yeah! And I know how he knew, too! He used to be a beta tester! He knew all the boss's attack patterns! He knew, but he kept it all to himself!" The player paused for a moment before throwing yet more fuel on the fire. "And I bet he's not the only beta tester here. Come on! Show yourselves!" The crowd began turning on itself. Everyone wanted to hurt someone. They'd switch from celebrating clearing the first floor to wanting to exact mob justice in under five minutes.

Agil stepped forward, once again trying to be the voice of reason, "Hey, everybody, calm down. We don't know any of this for sure."

Kirito's mind was racing. He needed to find a clean solution to all this, and fast. If he didn't, people were going to turn on each other. Diabel died to protect these people. Kirito wasn't going to let his legacy become twisted into something horrible. He couldn't let it come out that Diabel was a beta tester. Not here, not like this. He had to find a way to stop this now.

He didn't get a chance. "So what if we are beta testers? Do you seriously think Kayaba hasn't change the game at all since then? What do you think we were doing for a month? Laughing while you guys chased your tails? We're stuck here too! A lot of beta testers have died to protect you! You think we're all knowing? We're just as in the dark as you are!" Sinon had finally lost her patience with these attacks.

Kibaou glared at them. "You expect me to believe that? You expect any of us to believe that?" He was obviously beyond reason at this point.

Agil stood between the two of them, "They just might be telling the truth. It's not like they want to be here anymore than we do. What makes you think they're not?"

"You all heard him call out to Diabel when that thing switched weapons. He knew what the boss was going to do and he didn't say anything! If he had, Diabel would still be alive!" Kibaou spat.

Sinon had taken over the conversation now. Kirito still hadn't stood up. He'd never seen her like this before, not in all the time he'd known her. He could tell the crowd was starting to turn against them, and she wasn't making it any better. They wanted someone to roll over and make the problems anyone else's fault. Sinon obviously didn't care. "Anyone could tell that that second weapon wasn't a Talwar. We were all at the briefing. They said that the second weapon was a curved sword, remember? His second weapon seemed pretty straight to me. Doesn't mean we knew that going into this." She paused for a moment. She was right. Anyone could have told that that wasn't a Talwar. The fact that they hadn't noticed sooner was on everyone, herself included. She had to admit to that. She was supposed to be the eyes of the party. "This is hard on everyone."

"You're lying!" One person shouted. "You knew!" came another voice. "You're not just beta testers, you're cheaters! You're beaters!" The crowd picked up that last one as a chant. Agil kept himself between the mob and the suspected beaters.

"You guys probably need to get out of here," he suggested. "Give it some time, let people cool down, and things should work themselves out. But for right now, you probably want to vanish."

Kirito just nodded and started towards the door. Sinon stood there for a moment before replying, "Thank you, Agil," the followed after her friend. She'd managed to calm herself somewhat. She was still livid, but she could see that he had a point. Cool heads would prevail eventually, just not right now. Asuna followed after them. Kirito and Sinon looked at her. "You don't have to follow us. We agreed it was just for this fight."

"I don't believe them," she said simply.

Kirito blinked, while Sinon flashed a smile. She knew she liked this girl. "What makes you say that?" Kirito asked her.

"I don't believe that all beta testers are the monsters they're made out to be. If this is what newer players are like, I don't ever want any part of that. I'd rather be with you guys. I'd rather be branded a beta than stand with bullies." She paused for a moment. "Besides, we make a great team."

Sinon's smiled stayed this time. She looked at Kirito for a moment, then back to Asuna. "You know you can't go back, right? If you do this, as far as the rest of Aincrad is concerned, you're a beta. You okay with that?"

"I know the risks. I trust you guys." Besides, apart from Agil, literally every decent human being she'd met in this game had been a beta. If she had to be branded as something, that was the first label she'd choose.

Together, they stood at the foot of the door to floor three. Agil was doing a good job of keeping the crowd at bay, using his size to gain a psychological edge where reasoning couldn't. The stone swung apart before them, and they stepped into the bright white of the next floor. Three friends against two worlds. The hordes of Aincrad and the multitude of players who couldn't forgive them for existing. One floor down. Only ninety-nine to go.

* * *

 **A/N:** And so ends the introductory arc. Up next, set up for the long game and the beginning of the Witch Hunt arc!

A few notes before we finish this:

The Plague portions of this chapter was inspired by a brief scene in episode 13 of the anime, and in my eyes explains why some many more people died that month than during any other period in the anime. It was also original to this version, not appearing in the original Primordials, and as such took a bit more time to write.

2000 was changed to 2006, since 2000 seemed like too round a number.

No, not all boss battles will be this long, but this one I have the benefit of not having to create the boss, so I can focus on creating cohesive, deadly fighting machine out of our main trio.

As we begin to diverge more and more from canon, please, pm me or leave it in a review if there is something you'd like to see covered at some point or pm me if you have floor or plot ideas. I can't guarantee to include them, but ideas are certainly welcome.


	4. The King in the Mountain

**A/N:** Now we get into fresh material. No skipping twenty floors at a time here.

One quick thing, when it comes to the game itself, I've noticed that a lot of writers use special characters to denote items and make a point to draw attention to their sword skills. While I will name some of the items as the game goes on, I'm not going to name sword skills except mainly to describe the gleam of the weapon. You all aren't here to read a Let's Play. By the same token, the menu things will be glossed over because menus are boring. Reading about other people using menus is even worse.

Once again, thank you to everyone who has given feedback this far.

* * *

 **December 6, 2022**

 **Floor 2**

 **Online Users: 7,989**

The three of them stepped through the massive stone double doors and straight into the snow. Kirito and Sinon remembered the layout of the city, how it had been built into a crater in the mountain. Asuna was taking everything in for the first time. It sprawled out before them, brick and stone struggling to be seen through the falling snow. Asuna could barely make out the perimeter of the city, where the sides of the crater formed a natural barrier. Part of her wondered how they would get out to go look for the next dungeon, but she was sure there was a gate somewhere. The game had to at least be that fair. None of them could make out the specifics of the buildings through the wintery weather, not now that the sun had gone down. It wasn't that big a deal, since it wouldn't be that hard to wander around until they found place to stay. The last inn had been fairly close to the warp gate, hopefully this one would be, too. The three of them stood there for a moment, taking it all in.

"I don't remember it snowing last time," Kirito finally spoke.

"It was August last time," Sinon deadpanned.

"Yeah, I lost track. Sue me," Kirito responded, surprised at himself. The little things like that had gotten lost in the shuffle since the death game had started. He was starting to shiver. He could see Asuna doing the same. Sinon seemed to be doing alright, but she wore a cloak all the time, so she'd gotten a bit lucky in that department. He pulled open his menu, selecting the Coat of Midnight he'd picked up after the boss battle. He equipped it with a flourish.

"Show off," Sinon chided him.

"Hey, it's cold." Kirito asked, "Besides, I think it looks cool."

Sinon shrugged, "I'd wear it better." Asuna glanced back and forth between them. Were they always like this? She may trust the two with her life, and they'd already made good on that, but that didn't mean she had much understanding of the two.

Kirito let that particular conversation drop. He knew better than to get into an argument over fashion with a girl. He glanced back at Asuna. She looked cold. Why hadn't she put her cloak back on?

Oh. Right. He almost facepalmed. He'd somehow forgotten that she'd lost it during their last battle. He went into his menu and selected his now superfluous cloak, opting to gift it to their new party member. It wasn't like he needed it anymore. "Here, take this," he told the girl.

"Take what?" Asuna managed. She was shivering now, rubbing her arms to try and stay warm. Of course they'd end up on a snowy mountain right after the boss had wrecked her cloak. An icon popped up in front of her, a gift alert, signifying that Kirito was giving her his old cloak. She gladly hit accept and quickly equipped the thing, taking on the same look she'd had earlier.

"You don't need to wear the hood anymore, Asuna. We're all friends here," Kirito told her, trying to hide his disappointment. The ferocity was gone from her features, but she was still one of the most beautiful people he'd met.

Asuna just shrugged and pulled down her hood. She'd been using it as a barrier to keep people out. Now that she had friends again, it was time for that barrier to come down again. Her face scrunched up for a moment. There it was again. What was bothering her? He'd called her Asuna. "How did you know my name?" She was pretty sure the brunette was Sinon, and she knew she'd heard the guy's name, but in all the commotion, she couldn't remember what it was.

Kirito was looking at her like there was something on her face. Asuna just assumed her question was about as obvious as her 'What's a switch?' question earlier. The Sinon just patted her on the shoulder. "Don't worry about him, boys just assume everyone knows how these games work." Sinon pointed about where Asuna's health bar should be from Asuna's point of view, hoping she wasn't just pointing at air. "Our health bars should be floating right about here, just beneath yours."

Asuna squinted, reading off the names, ""Ki-ri-to. . . Si-non. . . So those are your names?" When the two nodded, Asuna could only laugh at herself. "They were right there all along. I can be so dumb sometimes." She really did need to take the time to learn how this game worked.

"Don't worry about it," Sinon comforted her.

"Yeah, we've both been playing this game a lot longer than you have. Everyone has to learn sometime." It was still hard to reconcile the image of the fighter who'd helped him bring down Illfang with that of the newbie who didn't even know how the heads-up display worked. Or who had actually managed to not see it. Before this conversation could go anywhere else, he abruptly stated, "We can't stay here too much longer. Agil can only buy us so much time."

"Alright," Asuna agreed. "How are we supposed to find a place to stay, though? I can't read any of the signs." The snow combined with the dark to make visibility very, very poor. There were lights burning along the road and some lamps could be seen in the windows, but if they didn't have time, how were they supposed to find a place to stay?

"Sinon's eyes are really, really good. You'll get used to it sooner or later," Kirito responded.

Sinon shrugged. "Actually, we're just going to cheat. I remember how to get to the inn we stayed at during the beta. Coming?" She didn't give Asuna a chance to respond, grabbing her by the arm and dragging her off towards the inn, with Kirito running behind them.

"Hey! No fair!" He yelled at them, not wanting to be left behind. To be honest, he did enjoy the race. Asuna just had to wonder what on earth she'd gotten herself into.

* * *

The three of them were huddled around the fire in Asuna's room. The snow had started to get to the three of them. Asuna and Sinon had it the worst. They had cloaks, but they were light, meant to protect from rain and cool temperatures, not from snow and freezing ones. They'd picked out three separate rooms and just happened to come across hers first.

Kirito wasn't feeling too bad. His sudden acquisition of a heavy coat had been a huge boon to him. He figured he'd be the one to do the shopping tomorrow. The girls just weren't equipped to go out in the rain. Besides, now that he'd switched primary colors from blue to black, maybe people wouldn't notice him as much. He'd go tonight, but that was too high risk with all the members of the raiding party likely arriving right around now. After a couple of days, they'd worry a bit less about who saw them, but right now, discretion was the better part of valor.

The three of them were all grateful to finally have a chance to catch their breath. They'd been going all out since early that morning, fighting for their lives. They finally had time to think.

Asuna was finally processing the enormity of the decision she'd made. She didn't regret it in the least, but now suddenly realized that her friendship with them would be the only ones she had for a while. Still, that was two more friends than she ever thought she'd have in this game. Two more than she would have had if they hadn't ended up randomly partying together. Besides, she stood by her feelings earlier. The betas really were the only good people she'd met earlier. If the newer players really could feel that much hate for people they'd never met, she could never be friends with the newer players anyway. She could still feel the ire Kibaou had stirred up in her. She'd never felt that kind of passion about anything before this game.

She was still figuring out her new companions. At first Sinon had struck her as being almost mean, but she'd never treated Asuna the same way she treated Kirito, and Kirito didn't seem to mind. They were certainly close friends, if nothing else. Sinon had been nice to her every time they'd interacted, and seemed much more understanding than Kirito had. Not that Kirito wasn't friendly, he'd actually given her the only gift anyone had given her in the game. He just seemed almost judgmental about her inexperience, but his other behavior kept her from feeling it was anything personal.

Sinon was glad that they'd been strong enough to accomplish what needed to be done. She felt like she was getting stronger. She hadn't had an attack since the game began, her nightmares aside. She didn't think those were ever going to go away. She didn't feel as much self-loathing when she looked in the mirror. She didn't feel like the same person. When she'd been fighting Illfang, she'd felt at home. She'd been strong. Sinon didn't have to be Shino. Deep down, a part of her knew it wasn't true, but for now, she could be someone else. Shino may be a murderer, but Sinon had friends. Sinon was a fighter. Shino was too afraid to even look at a gun. Sinon had to admit, though, a world free of guns was a welcome change.

She remembered snapping at Kibaou. She was rapidly growing to hate him. Blaming the beta testers she could understand. People loved to blame others when bad things happened. Her own mother blamed Sinon for shooting a man _to protect her._ No, what she couldn't get past was the fact that he'd called Kirito a murderer. Kibaou hadn't said it outright, but he'd everything but used the term. That was unacceptable. Kibaou was throwing the term around, like he knew what it entailed. Like he could understand the burden of taking another human being's life. Kirito certainly wasn't a murderer. Sinon could accept being called one. She'd learned to accept that she'd spend most of her life alone as punishment. But she would not stand by and watch innocent people be labeled the same. She just wouldn't.

Kirito, despite everything that had gone on today, found his mind kept wandering back to the image of Asuna. She was pretty now, but there was something about the way she'd worn the pure determination to defeat Illfang on her features that had seared itself into his head. He was surprised Sinon hadn't said anything about it. She teased him about just about everything, and he knew for a fact she'd caught him staring. She'd yelled at him to pay attention and kept him from getting hit from behind. She'd get around to it eventually, he was sure.

The other, more depressing thing that kept flitting through his mind was Diabel. He'd only met the man once, but he had tremendous respect for him. Diabel had done what needed to be done. He'd even been able to put up with Kibaou. Maybe Diabel knew, deep down, that they deserved the abuse. Kirito had no way of knowing for sure. What he did know was Diabel had been willing to lead, not just go out and fight. It was one thing to try to clear the Floor. Everyone did that. It was another to put yourself out there the way he did. He made sure everything was public, that the new users knew something was being done. It was more than he'd done. The man's last words had been to take care of the others. How could Kirito refuse that?

"Hey, Kirito, what happened back there?" Sinon piped up, glancing over her shoulder at the boy. Asuna gave her a puzzled look, having no idea what 'back there' meant.

"Huh?" was Kirito's ever eloquent response. He pulled his eyes away from the window, having been captivated by the view of the snow dusting the city. It was enchanting, as long as you weren't stranded in it. He looked over at the two girls and was relieved to see that Asuna looked just as confused as he felt.

"With Diabel. What happened to him. I saw you try to heal him."

Kirito walked over and sat next to them, making the conversation a bit easier on them without making them move away from the warmth of the fire. "I'm not really sure what he was thinking. He refused the potion and told me to beat the boss. To do it for everyone." He paused for a moment, that brief scene cycling through his head again. "He was one of us. He was a beta tester. That's why he tried to finish of Illfang on his own like that."

Sinon took a moment to process that information. "You knew he was a beta tester? Why didn't you say anything when Kibaou was calling you a murderer?" a concerned anger was filling her voice, something Kirito hadn't heard out of her very often. "It might have made him change his mind. He and Diabel seemed pretty close."

Kirito shook his head. "They'd just have called me a liar and a killer. He was a good man. I'm not going to drag his name through the mud."

"So now telling the truth is dragging someone's name through the mud? Just because it's unpopular?"

"When this death game started, all I could think about was my own survival. You were fixated on getting stronger. We worked together pretty well. We stayed alive, but we abandoned everyone else. We should have done what Klein did; gone back to help the other players. But they weren't important enough to us." Kirito suddenly became acutely aware that Asuna was listening to them. He continued anyway, deciding she needed to know their history anyway, since she'd decided to throw her lot in with them. "Diabel wasn't like that. He may have been a beta tester, but he didn't abandon anyone. He managed to pull enough people together to finally get everyone through the first floor."

"And he got himself killed being greedy."

"How can this not affect you? The man just died." Kirito couldn't figure her out. He wasn't sure he'd be able to sleep for weeks. It was one thing to know people were dying. It was another entirely to have to watch it happen.

Sinon sighed, but her face softened. "No. . . no, that's not how I meant it. I hate that it happened. I wish everyone could get through this game alive. I just don't get why you're putting him up on a pedestal like this. He proved he wasn't the saint you're painting him as." It bothered her, certainly. But it was different for her. It wasn't the first time she'd seen death. The knowledge that she'd killed a man would haunt her far longer than any vision of another man refusing life.

Kirito shook his head. "So what if he got a little greedy? We all make mistakes. We would still have gotten off the first floor without losing anyone against the boss. I'll take that over losing more than two thousand players just to find the boss." He took a deep breath, then released it, trying to calm himself. "Ex-beta testers are the bad guys now. Maybe we could have handled Kibaou differently to prevent that, but it's the way things are right now. I'm not going to drag him into all that. Let him be remembered a hero."

Sinon sighed deeply, shaking her head, knowing it was useless arguing any further. Kirito had made up his mind; nothing to be done about it now. "Suit yourself. You're probably right. Kibaou would probably just say you were making it up." Something about how Diabel and Kibaou interacted still didn't sit right with her. She'd have to do some digging later. She knew Kirito thought he could do no wrong, but she wasn't so sold on the man.

She looked over at Asuna, suddenly remembering she was there. Sinon gave her a half-hearted grin and asked, "Having any second thoughts?"

"You didn't have to take me with you, you know," Asuna replied. "You two seem to have known each other forever. I only just met you."

"You're pretty good with a sword," Kirito said. "It doesn't hurt that we all get along pretty well so far."

Asuna looked dubious. "That can't be all."

Sinon responded this time. "You stood up for us. That's pretty hard to come by. I know that from personal experience. Good friends are hard to find. You proved yourself a good friend a day after you met us."

Kirito nodded his agreement.

"Why are you guys so hard on yourselves?" asked them.

Sinon and Kirito both suddenly had confused looks on their faces. Neither one of them could form words for a few moments. Too hard on themselves? Had she not been listening to the conversation they'd just been having?

"We abandoned people. We should have done more to help," Kirito finally managed.

"So? I hid in my room for three days," Asuna replied.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Kirito asked, Sinon having apparently decided to sit back and let them talk.

"I mean I could have done more to help others. Or help myself," Asuna explained.

"But you've never even played this game before. You don't even know what's on your heads-up display."

"So having played before suddenly means you know how to deal with a deadly video game?" She asked, one eyebrow raised. She wasn't quite daring them to answer, she wasn't really angry. She was just starting to get frustrated with the massive leaps of logic made regarding beta testers. They shouldered no more responsibility than anyone else. They shouldn't, at least.

Kirito and Sinon looked at each other, in shock that they were having to defend their own vilification. Sinon looked back at Asuna. "Don't you hate us for abandoning you? For not protecting you?"

"Most of the newer players didn't do much to help each other either. It was everyone for themselves for a while."

Sinon smiled at her, then turned back to Kirito. "Girl has a point." She wasn't going to keep asking questions. She'd been vilified for years for protecting her mother. She'd been vilified by the newer players for not protecting them. If Asuna was going to say she shouldn't feel guilty for it, if Asuna was going to accept her, she wasn't going to argue. It was refreshing. It was something Sinon hadn't had in a very long time.

Kirito didn't want to let it go, however. "Maybe we didn't know how to deal with the game turning on us the way it did, but we still could have done more to help people."

"You wrote an in-game manual. And it stays updated. If people aren't going to read it, if they won't accept help, that's on you. You don't need to make it all your fault."

Kirito sighed. He couldn't argue with her. "Alright. I'll try to keep it in mind. Thanks."

"So what do we do from here?" Asuna began. "Are we just going to stay partied for the foreseeable future? Are we starting a guild?" She didn't know if they'd had any plans going forward or if they were just taking things one day at a time.

"I don't think we really have enough people for a guild. Besides, they're not official until the third floor." Kirito's eyes had shifted away from the girls towards the fire. It was a fair question. What exactly were they going to do now? It wasn't like they were welcome with most of the other players.

"That hasn't stopped the Aincrad Liberation Front. They managed a fairly effective quarantine of the Town of Beginnings during the Plague," she told them, recalling her meeting with Corvatz.

"We don't have anything close to Thinker's following, though. I don't really see any need for a guild. I guess we'll just stick together for a while, see what happens." Sinon replied.

Kirito nodded. He understood the guild question, but he thought they'd all thrown their lots in together back in the boss room. Still, now that they all had cooler heads and fewer people calling for their skins, it was good to reaffirm things.

"I'd like that," Asuna said, glad to have everything cleared up. She covered her mouth and yawned deeply. It had been a very eventful day. "Sorry guys, but I think it's time for me to get some sleep. It was nice getting to know you better."

Kirito started making his way over to the door, pretty well exhausted himself. "Alright. We'll meet in my room tomorrow to finish making plans, if that's okay."

"Why your room?" Asuna asked him.

"He's uncomfortable being in a girl's room," Sinon teased as she rose and started towards the door himself.

Kirito blushed, "No! Not at all. I just thought girls were more private about things like that than guys. . ." he let the sentence trail off, remembering he was outnumbered and there were times it might help just to keep his mouth shut.

Asuna just laughed. "Alright, we'll meet in your room then. I'll message you guys when I'm ready."

"Sounds good," Sinon responded as she and Kirito left the room. Kirito was just relieved that the comment about girls hadn't blown up in his face.

The two had a short walk down the hall from Asuna's room to their own. "It's not polite to stare, you know," Sinon told her friend. Kirito, who'd keeping his eyes in front of him as he walked, looked at her in confusion..

"What do you mean? I wasn't staring at anybody," he replied.

"Earlier. During the boss battle. You couldn't take your eyes off her."

Kirito felt a warmth and averted his eyes. He'd almost started to think this wasn't coming. "What she looked like surprised me, that's all."

Sinon chuckled a little in response, her disbelief clear. "Right. Well, don't let it distract you too much out there, alright?" She could tease him over it more later. They'd arrived his room.

"Yeah, thanks," he muttered, opening his door. "Good night, Sinon."

"Good night, Kirito." She was exhausted. It had been a very long day. A good one, but a long one. Maybe, for once, she'd be tired enough that the nightmares wouldn't come. She could hope, at least.

* * *

 **December 7, 2022**

 **Floor 2**

 **Online Users: 7,986**

The three of them were in Kirito's room, Sinon leaning against the wall while Asuna and Kirito took whatever seats they could find. They were eating whatever leftover rations they had from the previous floor. The rolls weren't quite the same without butter, but they could fix that later.

The snowfall had decreased to a light dusting, at least from what they could see out the window. "So floor two is still mountainous. You think he changed much else since the beta?" Kirito asked, mostly to Sinon.

"He only changed the dungeon layout on floor one. Can't see why two would be any different," Sinon responded.

"Yeah, doesn't mean we shouldn't be careful. Besides, not all of us have been here before," Kirito reasoned.

"We're also not exactly dressed for the weather," Asuna chimed in. There was certainly going to be a learning curve around these two. They just knew the game so much better than her.

"Yeah. I'll pick up some stuff to fix that in a bit," Kirito volunteered. "So what do we do now? Do we try to go back to the front and help clear the dungeon? Or do we just keep our heads down and go questing for a while?"

"You two just finished off the boss almost on your own. I think we've done our part for floor clearing for a little bit," Sinon stated.

"Besides, there's no way thing have gotten any better yet. Questing sounds better to me," Asuna voted.

"Sounds good. We should at least map things while we go, though. That way we're at least contributing something. What about items? Can you two send me a list of what you need?" Kirito asked, moving to the next order of business.

"What, don't think you can remember it all?" Sinon asked him. Asuna was starting to realize that Sinon took every opportunity she could to rib her friend. It was taking some getting used to. Not that she'd had many real friends before, but the people that tried to befriend her were rarely comfortable doing anything that might bother her. They were too afraid they'd hurt her feelings and she wouldn't gift them anything. It was remarkable how entitled some people acted. Too many people just assumed that because they were nice to you they deserved something. These two clearly didn't work that way. It was a breath of fresh air to Asuna.

"I'm going to start working on the cooking stat," Asuna announced. "It may take time, but eventually it might let us save a bit on food. Besides, hopefully it'll taste better." She'd made the decision while she'd been eating her plain roll. They were going to be here for a long time. No need to eat flavorless bread the entire time. She'd had some decent food while she'd been in the Town of Beginnings, but she'd never given it much thought. After Karin, she'd stopped eating anything but bread. She realized now that making herself eat nothing she actually liked was the same sort of wall her isolation had been. If she wanted to keep this game from beating her, she had to let herself live again.

Kirito's mind was blown by the fact that anyone would bother with that skill. He'd never really focused on anything except for quest and weapon related skills. Tracking was usually the furthest he deviated from combat relevant skills, and they all knew Sinon was better at that than he was.

Sinon was more taken aback by the genuine bluntness of the offer. Asuna had barely met her, and here she was offering to cook for her. Maybe it shouldn't have been that big a deal, but when your own _mother_ didn't want to cook for you, it became one.

It was beyond touching. Sinon hadn't had friends in a very long time. She'd met Kirito during the second week of the beta test. Their friendship had started much the same as Asuna's had started with Sinon and Kirito. They'd been partied to go after one of the bosses and got along well enough to stick together. It was after that that a lot of the other players had switched to testing the guild features. She and Kirito hadn't gone off on their own like they had this time, but they'd stuck in the same parties. And now Asuna had tagged along with them because she felt that Sinon and Kirito were better people than what Kibaou had made them out to be. Sinon knew she didn't deserve that kindness. The image of the post office flashed into her head. The man lying there, soaked in blood, his gun in her hands. She shook her head, chasing the image away, barely managing to keep herself from crying out. She was short of breath, trembling slightly. She only hoped she could live up to Asuna's first impression. She knew she wasn't. Maybe through this game, she could become strong enough to be what Asuna thought she already was.

"Sinon, you okay?" She looked up to find it was Kirito talking to her, looking at her with concern on his face. Asuna's bore the same expression. Sinon realized she must have been shaking more than she'd thought. She'd realized at the time that she'd physically shaken her head instead of just brushing the thoughts aside, but that shouldn't have been enough to warrant this undeserved concern.

She tried to put a smile on her face, but it was halfhearted at best. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just some old memories coming back to me.

"I don't have to cook if it scares you that much," Asuna offered.

"No, no, no, no. Not that at all. Just got lost in thought for a bit." Sinon wasn't ready to explain things to them. Not yet. She knew they'd find out someday, and she'd lose what few friends she had, but she wasn't ready for that yet. Maybe it was selfish of her, but that's the way things were going to be for now.

* * *

 **December 8, 2022**

 **2nd Floor**

 **Online Users: 7,976**

The mountains were cold, but not unremittingly so. The trio was starting to adjust to the wintry weather. An overhaul of their wardrobes had been a huge help for the girls. Kirito hadn't needed to change his outfit much, his coat serving being enough to keep him warm most of the time. He even buttoned it up from time to time when things got cold enough. As a precaution, though, he had acquired a long cloak just to be ready if a blizzard hit them. Asuna and Sinon had received more comprehensive wardrobe overhauls. Asuna had kept her primarily white aesthetic, but now was wearing significantly more covering clothing. The new clothes weren't bulky or cumbersome, they knew she couldn't afford that; her fighting style was dictated completely by speed. She'd traded her skirt for pants and swapped her vest for a jacket. She'd also replaced her old cloak, though this time she kept the hood down, keeping with her resolve to face the world of Aincrad. Sinon wore a long, brown coat that fell to her knees. Beneath, she'd made the same general adjustments as Asuna, swapping out her skirt for pants, her shirt for one that didn't reveal any unnecessary skin. Her clothes were all a light green color, a stark contrast to the brown of her jacket. She'd also picked up a long, light white scarf which flowed behind her.

Kirito was out in front of the girls, skirting the edge of the mountain. Navigating this floor was proving to be even more difficult than he'd remembered. The fact that falling over the side was truly fatal now didn't help anything. Luckily, they only had to deal with light snowfall today, so the footing and visibility weren't terrible issues.

They were looking for a quest he and Sinon remembered from the beta. They'd been able to mark it on their map without needing the updated guide book, and since it was on a part of the floor well away from the dungeon, it seemed like a decent place to start questing in earnest. They'd spent the day prior scouting and readjusting to the difficulty of the terrain.

"Found it!" Kirito called back to the girls. The mouth of the cave was partly obscured by snow, but Kirito had known where to look. He felt like the trip had been longer than it had been during the beta, but he wasn't sure if it had been moved slightly or if they were just being overly cautious. He slipped inside and waited for the girls to follow, not wanting to walk into any sort of ambush that might be waiting for him.

There were torches lining the walls, lighting the interior of the cavern. While it may have been familiar to Kirito and Sinon, Asuna was glancing around, warily eyeing the torches.

"Be careful," Kirito said to the two, though Asuna had doubts that Sinon needed reminding. "These halls are littered with goblins, assuming this place is the same as it used to be." They were in one of the lairs of the goblin princes. General consensus amongst the players in the beta was that these would litter the mountainous stages, with the goblin king somewhere amongst the last floors of the game.

The goblins in this game were violent tempered weaponsmiths. They may not have been the smartest opponents, but they were great at what they did. Nobody in the beta had ever seen a goblin crafted weapon's durability fall to zero. Some of the players even thought their weapons were unbreakable. The fact that people even entertained the notion of their indestructibility spoke of how well respected the weapons were. Whatever reward came from the end of this quest, it was weaponry, would serve the trio for floors to come.

"Everybody ready?" Kirito asked his friends after he'd caught his breath.

"I'm good," Asuna responded, drawing her rapier.

"You taking point again, Kirito?" Sinon asked him as she drew her knife.

"Yeah, sure," he replied as he drew his sword. The three of them began cautiously walking down the length of the cavern. Asuna was a few feet behind Kirito, with Sinon a few feet behind her. They'd agreed that Sinon would never be put in front, she just wasn't nearly as effective in close combat and could be invaluable at a distance. For now, Kirito's prior experience meant that their current configuration would also be their most common.

It took them a few minutes, but they finally came across the first room in the cave. They all knew that something had to be waiting for them, but they couldn't finish the quest without triggering anything. Kirito stepped into the room. Asuna followed a few seconds later. Sinon followed shortly after that, making sure to stay behind her partners. "Watch out!" she called to the two the instant she saw something shifting in the darkness.

It was a couple seconds too late to be of any use, though. Guttural cries filled the air as a mass of goblins emerged from the shadows, rushing the trio. The goblins were ugly green human looking creatures, though they were only about half as tall as the average man. A few of them were lightly armored, and all of them had the same malicious smile as they rushed the trio. An ambush, just as all three of them had predicted. They'd been waiting to the sides of the entrance, and now their backup was coming up from the deeper tunnels. There had to be at least twenty of them, far more than either beta tester had ever fought at once. Kayaba had changed more than just the dungeon after all.

Asuna and Kirito slid to the side to let Sinon get between them, away from creatures that were attacking them from the rear. She didn't expect her picks to be as effective as normal here. She was really looking forward to the shurikens of the fifth floor. Or even just next floor's throwing knives.

The creatures were rushing at the trio, a rolling mass of bodies and sticks, their war cries and footfalls rolling together into one deafening noise, threatening to drown out any communication the three might attempt until their numbers had been thinned.

Asuna didn't wait for them to close. She charged at them and stabbed three of them in the face before they could respond, then jumped back out of range before they could collect themselves. Kirito was less careful. He hurled himself on the left flank, bisecting two of the goblins with one swing of his blade. He jumped to the side, hurling himself up and out of the way of the clubs of their attackers. He cleaved through another one of the goblins as he came down. Asuna streaked along the line, gouging at goblins as she went.

Sinon was trying to count just how many goblins they were actually fighting. Even after the ones they'd slain, she quickly realized twenty had been an underestimation of their ranks. Sinon whirled, dagger in hand doing her part and going after the goblins behind her. One of the goblins caught her in the side as she did, a lesson to not lose track of herself in future fights. Assuming there were future fights. She winced, but swung her knife at her attacker, carving through her assailant. At least they still died as easily as in the beta. She was on her back foot, simultaneously trying to keep from being surrounded and to work her way back to her friends. She parried a stick aimed at her ribs and kicked away her assailant, unwilling to put herself in the middle of ten goblins. She didn't have the health to fight like a tank and she knew it.

Kirito was much more willing to brawl. He carved through another of their attackers, then wheeled on another, only to take a club to to face. He reeled, lashing out to his side and slaying another goblin. At least their ranks made it hard to miss. He regained his balance and charged forward, avenging his face and eliminating two more goblins for his troubles. He continued his mad rush, sidestepping attacks and continuing to one shot goblins. The hits were starting to wear on him, though. His health was a third gone. He had to have gotten through at least ten of them on his own, and he'd seen Asuna kill at least another half dozen, so that was probably nearly twenty between the two of them, but the horde seemed just as populous as ever.

He spun, swinging his sword low and trying to clear the area around him for just a moment. He needed time to regroup. They didn't give it to him. A few of them had dropped when he spun, but they rest had just jumped out of the way, and they charged him the moment he stood still. One of them caught him on the back of the knees and he suddenly found himself on the floor, trying to roll over to defend himself. He could only be thankful that none of them had swords.

"Kirito!" Asuna cried out as she saw him fall. The goblin horde was converging on him, trying to eliminate one of their opponents. With a little help from Sinon, Kirito and Asuna had already eliminated about half of their attackers. They seemed to have little more than the durability of paper. That wouldn't mean anything if one of the trio didn't make it out of this. Asuna towards the mass, plunging her sword into any of them she could reach, hoping to draw their attention to her. If she could get Kirito back on his feet, the rest should be easy. No luck. Five of them turned to go after her, but the rest continued attacking her friend.

Sinon's life had dropped to just below half at this point. She couldn't afford to throw her knives in here, and blinding individual goblins just didn't accomplish anything. They weren't dangerous on their own, it was just the risk of being overrun that she needed to worry about. Her knife had kept her alive this far, but she was starting to get winded, and she couldn't stay one step ahead forever. When she heard Asuna's cry she stole a glance over at her friends and immediately realized just how much trouble they were in. She tried to orient her retreat towards her friends, but it was slow going. Despite the fact that nearly two thirds of the attackers had been eliminated by now, the group coming after her wasn't thinning nearly as fast as the groups attacking her friends. Sinon plunged her knife blade into the skull of an attacking dagger, the leapt to the side. They were pinned down pretty bad, but this should be over soon. Gritting her teeth, she whirled, throwing her dagger into one of Kirito's attackers, knocking it into another of his assailants before it shattered. Now she just had to not die until Kirito and Asuna could finish clean up. Her picks could be used for that.

That gave Kirito all the opening he needed. Between Asuna and Sinon, enough goblins had been cleared off of him that he was able to power himself to his feet, throwing the remaining goblins off. His health had dropped precariously and an ominous tone filled his ears, but the fight was nearly over. He carved through his attackers before they could get up off the floor, then dropped into a defensive stance. This lasted only long enough for him to find and down a healing potion. Filled with renewed energy, he hurled himself at the monsters attacking Asuna, not registering that Sinon was without her knife.

Asuna had had the most success avoiding attacks, her health only just now dipping into the yellow. They'd been surprisingly slow and hadn't really hit that hard, but they'd had surprise and location on their side. She parried an incoming weapon and ran through its wielder. She could see Kirito coming to help her over the heads of her attackers. Between the two of them, they quickly dispatched the remnants of her attackers. Together, they turned to help Sinon, who was slowly getting backed into a wall and had been reduced to throwing needles at the creatures. What happened to her knife?

Sinon was being assailed by the seven remaining goblins, most of them lightly armored, which just made her needles even less effective than they were on the others. Still, she'd managed to blind a couple and had killed one with a clean shot to the throat, so things weren't too bad. Asuna and Kirito were finally making their way over to help her. Sinon had avoided attacks as best she could, but she didn't have much left in her.

A mocking laugh cut through the room, emanating from deeper inside the cavern. The goblins froze. Sinon took that opportunity to escape to where her friends had stopped in their tracks. She quickly downed a healing potion. If this was the mini-boss it sounded like, she was going to need all the health she could get.

Four goblins, fully adorned in silver armor, emerged from the cavern, moving much faster than any of their unadorned brethren. Kirito, Sinon, and Asuna braced themselves for an assault that never came. The new goblins were attacking the group that had ambushed them, slaughtering them with ease. These new goblins weren't the mindless brutes Sinon and Kirito had become used to. They fought with military precision. Once they'd finished their clean up, the goblins took up positions on either side of the entrance to the room, suddenly standing at attention.

Sinon picked up her knife quickly, before the new group decided it wanted to come after them, before letting herself puzzle over what exactly was going on here. Friendly monsters had not been a part of the beta.

A fifth figure emerged, human sized, towering over the other goblins, with similar polished silver armor, though his was trimmed with gold, strode into the room. Most of his green skin was covered, but the figure's face could be clearly seen. He looked nothing like the other goblins they'd found. His face was angular, almost handsome, but still distinctly goblin. The goblins flanking the entrance kneeled as the figure entered the room. He gave the trio a toothy smile, revealing a mouth full of sharp, pointed fangs. He raised his hand, palm up, and the soldiers stood. The trio finally registered the displayed names of the monsters. Goblin Imperial Guards and Kurat, the Goblin King.

The trio instinctively took a step back. The noise of metal against metal as swords were drawn and armor shifted as soldiers moved into fighting positions was enough to make them reconsider. Kirito and Sinon knew they were way out of their depth. Nobody had found the goblin king through the first eight levels. Even if he wasn't supposed to be on one of the ninetieth floors, they couldn't deal with a sub-boss from level nine or higher. Asuna figured the same thing out pretty quickly, given their body language.

The goblin king laughed. "Still, children. We mean you no harm." He muttered something else, this time in a decidedly different language. The Imperial Guard stored their weapons, and stepped aside, moving back to flank the entrance.

"I'm impressed," the goblin king told them. "Troust had been hoping to ambush me with the whole of his army. Doomed, but bold. You killed most of them on your own. For that you have my respect. For eliminating traitors, you have my gratitude." He produced something from a pouch at his waist. He tossed them three items. Kirito picked them up, but only one item acceptance screen appeared. He accepted his and handed the other two to his partners. They were simple silver wristbands. There was text on them, but but it wasn't a language any of them were familiar with. "Leave. No one will disturb you."

"Who are you? What's going on? What are you doing here?" Kirito asked, surprising even himself. The other two had been wondering the same thing, but were happy enough to leave without knowing.

The large goblin chuckled at their curiosity. "I am Kurat, Lord of the Goblins. The mountains belong to me. I travel along them as I will, and all others with my permission. Troust's treason became known to me. I came here to correct the situation." He stared though the players, his good natured smile still on his lips, but something in his eyes told them the conversation was over. "Return another day. There is much to be done here."

* * *

The three of them were out on the mountain trail, walking back to town, still processing what occurred. "You guys ever see anything like that before?" Asuna asked her companions.

"Never even heard of it. Maybe we walked in on some sort of weird, unannounced rare quest." Kirito speculated, knowing he was reaching. "You think the Goblin King can really jump to whatever mountain range he wants? I can't imagine he was supposed to be here."

"Was he not there the first time?" Asuna asked.

"No. You're supposed to go in, fight the goblin prince, and leave. You usually got a piece of armor or something as the item drop at the end. Nobody even knew if the King existed," Kirito explained.

"Hey, I just finished reading the description of those wristlets he gave us," Sinon called out to them. "Apparently, they mark his blessing. If this is accurate, they'll give us safe passage through goblin territory. Loyal territory, I assume, since he mentioned something about treason. It says they also give us access to goblin shops, though I have no idea how we'd find those." The three of them had equipped the bands to their left wrist. There hadn't been much discussion. A talking enemy had provided them, they were just going along with things at this point. They were small, plain bracelets, with the text barely visible if one wasn't looking for it.

"So do we go back sometime? You think it'll be safe?" Kirito asked the other two.

"I say we trust him. He certainly seemed royal," Asuna responded.

"It couldn't hurt. He didn't seem eager to kill us, and I don't think Kayaba would set any traps like that this early in the game," Sinon reasoned.

"Yeah, that's reasonable," Kirito agreed. "So you think he'll be in the mountains on every floor we come to? He said he could come and go as he pleased, and he certainly seemed overleveled. You think we should warn people, just in case they try to pick a fight with him?" Kirito pondered.

"Who'd believe us?" Asuna responded. Saying there was a wandering, likely level ninety or higher boss floating around on floor two probably wasn't going to do much. She wasn't sure she'd have believed it if it hadn't been there.

"The only evidence we have are these bands. . ." Sinon trailed off, trying to remember the name of the items, "Kurat's Blessings, and I don't plan to show off any rare items right now. If people do start getting killed trying to fight him, word will spread pretty quickly. If this is a rare quest, warning people would just make us look crazy, since no one else would be able to find him. Besides, it might be kind of fun to see how long this quest runs. Didn't he say something about betrayal? Maybe a few floors down we'll find ourselves involved in some full-scale civil war."

"It would certainly be interesting, but do you think it'd help us get out of this place any sooner?" Asuna wondered.

"We can't focus the whole game at once. We have to take it one day at a time. Bite off small pieces. If we try to take it all on at once, it'll drive us mad," Kirito cautioned.

Asuna gave him a questioning look, but part of her saw his logic. If they were going to survive this game, they would have to become part of it, much as she hated the thought. She'd already resolved that she was going to try and beat this game. Maybe part of her would even be okay with playing it. This was their world now, and whatever twists and turns it took, they had to deal with them.

* * *

 **A/N:** My productivity is slowing down just a little bit now due to holidays and the fact that this is fresh material. Also that the chapters are nearly doubling in length. Are they too long? Let me know. Cutting material is one of the hardest parts of writing. I don't mind writing long chapters, but I wouldn't mind feedback on whether they were becoming too long to sit through.

So, now you've met the first of the transient bosses. Aincrad had no real lore for the world itself. We're going to fix that.


	5. White Christmas

**A/N:** Whew. Finally, we're more than halfway done with overhauling my old material. New stuff is coming, I promise!

We'll be working with the long monster given quests for most of the story, but the Witch Hunt arc will focus mostly on the early guilds and the beater issue.

As kind of a side note, I'm still not entirely sure what I'm going to do with Sachi and the 'Cats when we finally get there.

Also as an aside, I'm currently looking for a picture for the story, but I haven't found anything I think works. I'll keep looking.

* * *

 **December 20, 2022**

 **2nd Floor**

 **Online Users: 7,963**

"Switch!" Kirito called out as he deflected Baran, the Taurus General's hammer up and away from himself. He darted to the side and Asuna took his spot, pelting the creature with thrusts to the body, though most of her attacks simply glanced off its crimson armor. The minotaur roared at her as it brought its hammer down, hoping to crush its most recent nuisance. She narrowly avoided the strike, rolling out of the way just before it struck her. The creature responded by sweeping its hammer along the floor. It was met with needles in both eyes as its momentum left it with its head facing Sinon. It howled in pain, momentarily blinded, flailing madly. Agil's axe found purchase in the creature's side, leaving a long, orange gash exposing what appeared to be the digital framework of the beast. The blind counter attack hit Agil flush in the ribs, sending him sprawling and immediately dropping his health to critical, despite the man's durability. Kirito switched back in, carving into its legs, dragging his sword through its knees, dashing past the monster before he felt the crushing force of the hammer.

A man in bright red armor threw himself into the melee, catching the hammer on his massive shield as one Baran's blind strikes nearly connected with him. The new fighter stabbed the beast through the chest before jumping back out of the way. He had taken the least damage of any player, his health still in the middle of its green stage. The minotaur lashed out, still recovering from the throwing picks that had been buried in its eyes. Sinon slipped in under the beast's hammer and stabbed it square in the chest. The blow barely affected Baran's health, which was deep into the red. Kirito switched back in, swinging intentionally for the creature's hammer, shoving it up and out of the way. "Switch!" Kirito yelled, jumping out of the way. Asuna charged in, leaping at the creature, stabbing at his already damaged eyes. Several of her blows missed, tracing lines and spots along his cheeks and forehead, but two struck home.

The beast reeled, but still stood, its health reduced to but a sliver of red. It swung mightily at Asuna, and this time the hit caught her flush in the ribs, dropping her like a stone. Her health plummeted, but stabilized as it turned red. "Asuna!" Kirito called out to her, alerting the monster to his location. It started towards him, howling. It didn't hear Sinon coming up behind him. Sinon leaped onto the creature's back, grabbed ahold of it and plunged her knife as deep into its throat as she could. The beast's cries finally stopped as its health hit zero and it began to disintegrate, dropping Sinon unceremoniously back to the ground.

The raiding party burst into celebration. This time, there was no Kibaou to dampen their spirits. Expressions of gratitude, admiration, and congratulations flowed freely. Sinon understood how Kirito had felt last time. They hadn't slain the beast on their own. Their job had been the same as last time; protect the larger groups from the boss's minions. When the boss had hit the red, the other players hadn't been able to adapt to his new attack pattern quickly enough, and they'd stepped in to prevent any loss of life. This time, they'd been successful in that.

"You three are making a habit of this," came a deep voice from behind where the three had gathered. Asuna and Kirito, Kirito making sure she was okay after the late hit she'd received. Still, neither one of them needed to be facing the man to recognize Agil's voice. He'd been their defender. They weren't likely to forget him soon.

Sinon was the large man, who continued speaking, "How'd you know it was vulnerable to the blindness status?"

Sinon shrugged, smiling, "I didn't. Eyes are squishy, so I have a habit of throwing needles at them," she paused for a moment, before admitting. "Can't say I expected to hit him with both, though. Asuna did a pretty good job setting him up for me." She was breathing heavy. The fight had taken a lot out of her, but she was glad to have contributed more than she had last time.

"Wait, you usually attack monsters' eyes? I thought that was just a boss strategy." Agil told her, a look of alarm on his face. "That's pretty brutal."

Sinon shrugged, but another voice answered for her. "Sinon doesn't fight fair," Kirito said from behind her. He and Asuna were now standing a few feet from her, Asuna fully healed.

"I can see that. Not many players literally go for the throat," Agil observed.

"I use a knife. Not too many ways to beat someone wearing armor," Sinon responded.

"Remind me not to get on your bad side," the man in red armor intoned. He was walking towards him, having apparently been discussing things a few other members of the party. Heathcliff, she remembered. Heathcliff was his name. "I didn't know anyone fought like that in SAO."

"I don't think anyone else does. I'm alright with a sword, but not nearly as good as those two," she tilted her head towards Asuna and Kirito as she said this. Heathcliff's comments and Agil's surprise reminded her just how unusual her style was. They'd been in the mountains too long, if she was forgetting that.

In fact, each of them had received comments on their fightings style. People were usually aghast the ferocity and ruthlessness with which she fought. Why? Her targets were AI creatures. Had they forgotten this was a death game? She couldn't figure it out. Maybe it was something primal. People just hated the thought of the sort of visceral brutality she fought with. They preferred something more akin to how Asuna fought. Her fighting was almost poetic. The smoothness of her movement, the fluidity of her strikes, the defiance that always shown on her face, all combined for a far more romanticized fighting style. It had caught Kirito's eye when he'd first seen her. Sinon knew that his attention hadn't really moved from Asuna, even if he wouldn't admit it. Asuna could get away with it because of how incredibly fast she was. Sinon didn't have that luxury. Kirito's style was aggressive, but much more wild. He didn't go for surgical strikes the way he did, he just put his sword through as many enemies as he could. What a lot of people forgot though, was that he was fast. He may look slow, but only by comparison to Asuna. He fought a lot like her, but minus the grace. It was strange, then, that no one commented on how he fought. Maybe it was more acceptable for a guy to fight that way. One thing she had over the other two, though, was that her penchant to for joints, eyes, throats, or whatever looked weak, tended to yield a lot of status effects, even if it didn't cripple or kill like it might in real life.

"You didn't do too bad yourself," Kirito told the man. "Where'd you pick up a shield like that so early in the game?" Kirito didn't mention that no one had ever seen anything like it in the beta. The game had proven to be fairly different already.

Heathcliff waved the question off, "I got it at the end of a quest on floor one. Must be very rare drop, since I've never heard of anyone else finding one. It's come in handy so far." He looked around, then turned back to Kirito. "Congratulations, I hear you three were instrumental bringing down the first boss, too. You'll be a credit to whatever guild you decide to join." Heathcliff walked away after that, never exchanging a word with Asuna, who stood silently at Kirito's side.

Sinon accepted the last attack bonus as Kirito took over the conversation. She'd equip it and see what it was useful for later. For now, she had a brief chance to interact with people who didn't want her dead. It was nice to see Agil in particular, the one person who hadn't turned on them last floor.

Asuna found it a bit harder to let herself relax. She remembered vividly how quickly everyone had turned on the beta testers. It had almost felt like she'd been the one betrayed. To vilify the people who had just opened the next stage of the game. . . it was going to take some time for Asuna to trust people again. Still, she was trying not to project the reaction of people from the last boss raid onto the people who'd gone on this one. Agil was the only face she recognized. Kibaou and his group had proven themselves the cowards she'd thought them to be, as far as she was concerned, by not being here.

"What are they saying about us out there, Agil?" Kirito was now talking to the larger man. The raiding party was starting to break into smaller groups.

"You mean beta testers?" Agil clarified. "It's not good. Kibaou's teamed up with a guy named Lind to really work people up. They've got a lot more of a following than I'd like to admit."

"What are they saying?" Kirito asked.

"The same stuff as always. How newer players are entitled to all the best stuff since the beta testers abandoned them. I try not to listen to them too much," Agil explained.

"Thanks for giving us the benefit of the doubt," Kirito told the man.

Agil shrugged it off. "Shouldn't be that big a deal. You guys should probably get moving, though. You took this boss down too, so you get the honor of opening the gate."

The trio looked at each other, each of them remembering the freezing cold they'd walked into last time. Kirito shook his head, "We'll let someone else go first this time. We about froze last time. Besides, it can't hurt to give someone else a turn."

Agil just shook his head in amusement. "Suit yourselves. See you guys next time we do this?"

"You bet. We're not going to miss these raids if we can help it," Kirito asserted. Kirito was glad to a have a friend or two in this game aside from Sinon and Asuna. He might not run into them very often, but Klein and Agil were two of the friendliest people he'd ever met. Agil actually seemed like he'd been looking forward to seeing them at the raid meeting. As for Klein, Kirito still felt guilt for abandoning the man. He wasn't really sure what he'd do if he ever ran into him.

The crowd was slowly filtering out. Heathcliff and his party had been given the honor of opening the warp gate, and now Agil and his party were moving to follow. Asuna, Sinon, and Kirito were soon left standing alone in the darkened boss chamber. "One floor in two weeks, not too bad," Sinon said to her friends. At this rate, they'd still be stuck in this game for four years. No one could bring themselves to say that out loud. Most people probably intentionally never did the math.

"That's twice as fast as last time. We're getting faster. We'll get out of here soon enough," Asuna responded. Kirito nodded, and produced a teleport crystal. The others did the same, and the three returned to town. They had a little bit of business to attend to on floor two before they moved on.

* * *

 **December 20, 2021**

 **2nd Floor**

 **Online Users: 7,959**

"So what'd you get from the boss?" Asuna called back to Sinon. The three of them were making the familiar journey towards that mountain cave. It much easier going than it had been a couple weeks ago. Either their conditioning had improved or they'd just gotten used to it. Probably a mixture of the two.

"Let me check," Sinon told her friend from her spot behind her. They'd decided to keep the same arrangement, Kirito in front, Asuna just behind him, with Sinon behind her. Kirito preferred to lead, and besides, he absorbed damage better than the other two did. He also just enjoyed fighting more than they did.

None of them had given much thought to the boss battle since they'd returned to town. They'd been more surprised by what they'd seen when they got 'd missed it last time, having moved on to the next floor, but there must have been a public announcement when Baran fell. They'd arrived in the middle of unrestrained festivities. People had been out in the streets, cheering and dancing. It had been good to see people happy again. It reminded Asuna of what Kirito had told them about this being their world now. The people were living their lives, and in that moment, they'd had reason to celebrate. They were one step further down the long road to freedom. For a little while, they had reason to celebrate surviving this far.

Even Sinon had been affected by it. She found the longer she was here, the less she was focusing on getting stronger, at least consciously. Maybe it was because there wasn't anything here to trigger her attacks, but her time in Aincrad had been the most peaceful time of her life, at least since the incident. Except for the nightmares, and they were only coming every other night, now. The other nights tended to be filled with her adventures with her new friends. Strange that the game of death was granting her a peace she couldn't find elsewhere.

"Come on, tell us!" Asuna insisted. She couldn't see that Sinon was currently scrolling through her menu, having genuinely forgotten she'd picked up anything from the fight. Sinon had a distinct feeling Kirito was just as anxious to find out what she'd gotten as Asuna was.

She found it, equipping it before announcing what it was. A deep brown coat suddenly replaced the well-worn one that had previously adorned her. The richness of the color, the golden talons at the bottom of the sleeves, just above her hands, and the golden trim of a beak lining the collar beneath her chin made it clear there was something unusual about the item. Just like Kirito's Coat of Midnight, her item also came down to her ankles. "Oh, that's warm," she commented without thinking.

Asuna looked back on her and couldn't help but smile in approval. "That coat suits you. What's it called?"

"It's called 'Raptor's Raiment'," Sinon told her. "Apparently it gives bonuses to critical strikes, thrown weapons, and knives. After Kirito's coat, it makes me think these boss drops are tailored to the person they drop for. I can't imagine them even bothering to program an item like this into the game otherwise." At least Kirito's Coat of Midnight had some flexibility. Its stealth bonuses did lend themselves more to players who didn't work with large parties, and there weren't very many people who didn't stick with six player parties.

"That does seem almost tailor made for your playstyle. You think he creates an item for everyone when we meet at the boss meeting the winner gets theirs?" Kirito wondered.

"Seems like a lot of energy," Sinon said.

Kirito shrugged. However it was done, Sinon's boss drop certainly was too specialized for the boss drops to be general, flexible utility items. It made Kirito wonder just what kind of things the later bosses would yield. "I guess it's Asuna's turn to take down the boss next time, right?"

"Not if I'm as sloppy as I was this time. That hit at the end _hurt._ " Asuna rubbed her side at the memory. She'd stood still too long. She'd known that her strength was that she was extremely quick. Kirito and Sinon had told her once or twice she was the fastest fighter they'd seen. She wasn't sure why. She didn't push particularly, hard, but she took the compliments for what they were. "Sinon deserved that one. That was a great shot with the needles."

"That. . . That attack really shouldn't have worked," Sinon admitted. "Yes, I'd had time to observe him, figure out his patterns and such, while everyone fought him. But I the chance that those needles just bounced off his helmet was pretty high. I really was just trying to buy you a couple seconds, to get out of the way. I got really lucky on that one." She wasn't complaining, a lucky break is a lucky break, but she knew her limits. This time next year, that kind of shot would probably more plausible, but right now, it had been luck, and she knew it.

"We're here," Kirito announced, interrupted their conversation. They'd returned to the mouth of the cave, which suddenly seemed a little better hidden than it used to be. It didn't stick out as much, the mouth staggered in such a way that if you weren't looking for it it just seemed to be another protrusion of the mountain, and the path had plenty of twists and turns already to begin with. The perpetual snow didn't help.

Once they were inside, they found themselves warmed considerably. Torches still lined the walls, but the sense of foreboding that had filled the air the first time they'd come by was gone. "You think they'll be here this time?" Kirito asked his friends. They'd been back a time or two since their encounter with Kurat only to find the cave completely empty. No monsters or anything. Still, something felt different this time. He led them deeper into the goblin cavern.

When they entered the next room, he could figure out what that was. There were two armored goblins, faces concealed. They looked for a moment as though they were going to turn hostile, until they noticed the bands around the players' wrists. They stood at attention, stepping aside, letting the players through. The three of them glanced at each other for a moment before accepting the invitation. Maybe the wristbands were the real deal after all.

The room they found on the other side must have been a hub of some sort, given the several entrances and exits lining the walls. Most of the tunnels seemed to be empty, but the players still found themselves on edge. They'd been conditioned by the threat of death to think of anything inhuman as a major threat, so this took some getting used to. One of the goblins strode up to them, wordlessly gesturing for them to follow him. They noticed that his face was more humanoid, less animalistic than the ones they'd fought. His face was more like Kurat's.

They did as they assumed he wanted, none of the goblins having uttered a word to them as of yet, and crossed the room to the tunnel directly across from the one they'd come through. The goblin gestured that they continue, and as they did so, they could see the creature scampering off the perform other duties. The four of them walked down the path they'd been pointed to, even more confused than they'd been when they'd arrived.

The room they found was the last thing they'd expected to in goblin territory. There were bookshelves lining the walls, some of the books replaced haphazardly, sticking out at angles from the wall. There were random gold and silver objects strewn about the room. Across from them, at a rather large, ornate desk, there sat a taller goblin, about two-thirds the height of Kirito, pouring over a manuscript. None of the players knew what to make of the scene. The goblin looked up at them as they entered.

Kirito found his voice first. "We'd like to speak to your king," he announced, attempting to be more polite than he had managed during their first encounter. That said, he had no idea what proper manners even were among goblins.

The goblin shook his head. "King not here. On higher mountain." He seemed irritated, as though he wanted to return to his reading.

Kirito found himself too surprised to speak. Even though they'd heard a goblin speak before, it still took him off guard. Sinon didn't seem as fazed, though, and continued where Kirito left off. "So he's in the highest mountain?" She attempted to clarify the creature's answer.

The goblin shrugged, then pointed up. "Higher mountain." Sinon sighed. This goblin was either being intentionally difficult, didn't understand the entirety of what they were asking, or genuinely didn't know where his boss was. Regardless, his response made things clear, at least in her mind. Kurat was supposed to be on one of the higher floors, and somehow, it looked like he could travel between them.

"He gave us these," Kirito held up his wrist. "Do you know what he wants us to do?"

The goblin shrugged again. "I serve here. When he wants you, you know." He started to turn back to his books, muttering something.

"Who are you, then?" Sinon asked, trying to get some scrap of useful information out of this trip. Just having Kurat's blessing didn't seem to mean they were guaranteed much cooperation. Or maybe they had reason to believe their king wouldn't be coming back.

The goblin looked back up at them. "Troust," he responded, matter of factly, a measure of annoyance showing on his face.

"I thought the traitor was named Troust. Was he your brother or something?" Kirito questioned. He could hardly believe he was asking the question. As if monsters in this game had relatives.

The goblin sighed, then gestured around. "Mountain Troust. I trusted with mountain. I Troust."

Kirito and Sinon couldn't think of much else to say. They hadn't been sure what to expect when they'd come here, but this certainly wasn't it. The wristbands seemed like some sort of quest hook, but now that they were here it just felt like they were just wasting their time.

"You speak japanese better than you're letting on, don't you?" Asuna stated as much as asked. She'd been silently observing the exchange, examining the room, trying to figure out where all this was going. The goblin just tilted his head at her, as if confused. "Your books. There's Kanji in some of your books, I can see it from here."

Sinon's jaw dropped. She took a closer look at the books the creatures had been reading, and sure enough, she could almost read some of the pages from where she stood. How in the world had she managed to miss that? Now that she looked, she could at least recognize the alphabets of most of the books. A couple seemed to be in Pinyin, one or two were written in Hangul, and a few others appeared to be in english, or at least some other similar looking language. The rest were in a language completely foreign to her, likely goblin.

Troust chuckled and gave them a fanged smile. "Clever. Yes, I can speak proper japanese. What would you three like?" He sat up in his chair, giving them his full attention.

"Wait, why did you act like you could barely form sentences?" Kirito asked, not willing to just let it go.

"I had to see what kind of people you were. His majesty may have given you his favor, but he did it for killing insurgents. Earning his favor by slaughtering our kind does little to prove that you're not racist. My people have a history of being treated as mere animals by yours. The girl in white gave me the benefit of the doubt. Some people would have assumed that I just had these books for treasures, for instance, whereas she at least believed I could read them. You two gave me some benefit of the doubt. You were at least polite. Now I know what kind of people you are. What can I do for you? Weapons?" Troust suddenly seemed patient and good-humored. "I'm afraid I can't take you to his majesty. He's charged me with Troust, and I would sooner die than betray his trust."

None of them had thought of it that way, but Troust was right. The party had been lucky been lucky that the goblins they'd found had been rebels, though, given the knowledge of Kurat's strength, it seemed unlikely that Kayaba would have considered having them fight him this early in the game. Still, that didn't change the fact that they had slaughtered a _lot_ of goblins their first time here. If they'd been loyal to their king, things might have played out a lot differently.

"Is there anything you need from us? Any other traitors to fight?" Kirito offered.

"No. The Guard was thorough. These mountains are clear," he responded.

"Can goblins make ranged weapons? Bows or anything like that?" Sinon asked. She figured that if bows did turn out to exist, this would be the best place to find them. She didn't get her hopes up, but there was at least a chance.

"No. No bows. But we will build something for you, if you like. It will be ready for you in two weeks. Anything else?" He asked, giving the appearance of having work to get back to.

"Wait, why can't you make bows?" Asuna asked. "You're obviously well studied. There's got to be at least one book here that explains how to make them. You at least know what they are."

"His majesty has forbade it," the goblin said, as if it were silly to question it. "There are merchants in the room behind you. Anything else you may need you can get from them. I'm sorry, but I must return to my work." He looked at Asuna, "Thank you, for giving me some benefit of the doubt."

She smiled and nodded at him. "Of course. Thank you for your hospitality."

The three players made their exit, still not sure what to make of all this. They'd definitely be checking the mountain ranges they found on just about every floor. Sinon in particular wondered what they had in store for her.

For now, they took advantage of Troust's offer. The goblins seemed to have some use for col, so purchasing items proved to be little problem. They bought new weapons on their way out. That certainly hadn't been what they'd expected.

* * *

 **December 24, 2022**

 **2nd Floor**

 **Online Users: 7,949**

The friends were considerably late in getting to floor three. When they finally arrived, they found the mountains they'd become so accustomed to over the last two weeks replaced with expansive forests. Maybe Kayaba had a better gauge of how long it would take them to get through each level than the beta would have suggested, or maybe it was just coincidence, but the snow covered conifers made it a fitting level for the players to spend Christmas in. The three were in Kirito's room, this time. There was a small, but growing number of players that were already buying houses of their, but the three of them preferred the inns. Some players were starting to find their own places to live, even this early, but the three preferred to use inns. It was too big an investment for them to be able to really contemplate it anyway. Not that they were poor, they were very successful clearers, but there had been no floor they'd just fallen in love with, and the money they'd be spending could better be used on weapons. Asuna in particular was against the idea simply because she didn't want any additional ties to the game.

"We're starting to get nicknames," Sinon said from her position by the window. She was curled up, legs in her chair, reading the announcements in the fliers that were handed out in the shops. "Asuna, apparently you're 'the Flash' now.

"The Flash?" Asuna repeated. "Why the Flash?"

Sinon shrugged, "Apparently because you move like lightning," she told her friend, "It could be worse."

"Yeah, just seems odd," Asuna said from her spot by the fireplace. She was scrolling through her menu, finally making time to learn the aspects of the game that she'd managed to be oblivious to for so long.

"At least you're not the Black Swordsman. Yuck. Kirito, you need to get attention for something other than your coat," Sinon teased the boy.

"You're just jealous you didn't get it," Kirito responded. He was laying on his bed, staring at the ceiling. They were all in their full gear, having expected to go clearing today, before the announcement went out. This morning the Aincrad Liberation Front had requested a hiatus of clearing efforts for the day, in an effort for the players to have a truly festive holiday, without anyone having to worry about losses. The three of them were all single, so Christmas Eve didn't hold the same value it might for some of the other players, but it was a nice excuse to relax for a while.

"I like my own plenty, thank you very much. Besides, you're in a party with two girls. Shouldn't you be the one least concerned about making a fashion statement," she fired back, taking her eyes off of the flier for a moment to check his reaction. Asuna had peaked up from her menu and was looking over her shoulder at the two, having learned long ago that it was best to sit back and watch. It was more fun that way.

Kirito just huffed and popped his collar in response. "Guys are allowed to look good too, you know."

"Certainly allowed to. Succeeding is another manner." Kirito was getting more comfortable with himself, she could tell. In the beta he'd bristled at any teasing about his appearance. He'd outfitted his character as much to make himself look cool as for practicality. Everyone did, even in the death game. It was just taking him a while to admit it.

Asuna found herself giggling at the two from her spot by the fire. "You two never stop, do you?"

"She starts it," Kirito said defensively. Not that he minded.

Sinon just shrugged. "Someone's got to keep him on his toes."

Asuna just shrugged at the comment. "Eh, you're probably right. So what are they calling you? We can't be the only ones with nicknames."

"Apparently I'm Bullseye. Can't say it's the most creative, but I guess I did that to myself," Sinon told her. "Not too much else of interest here. They've got some stuff about the floor clearers. They've got the three of us as the focus of this particular article, since we've gone two for two on taking down bosses. There's a little in here about Heathcliff, a few mentions of other people who were there, but that's about it. Why do you think they're bothering with the nicknames?"

"They're trying to create heroes," Kirito said, still looking at the ceiling. "Or, at least they're trying to make larger than life figures. Trying to give hope to the people who are living back on floor one."

"Who even writes these articles?" Asuna asked.

"Argo," Sinon responded, not looking up.

"Who?" Asuna had heard the term before, but not in any way that would make sense here. Surely the greek myth had nothing to do with this. She wasn't even sure how many other people in this game had read the myth.

"Yeah, Sinon's probably right," Kirito stated. "Argo's the infobroker. She's been at it since the beta, buying and selling whatever data she can get her hands on. She's the one who puts out the guidebooks."

"So why haven't I heard of her?"

"You couldn't even find our names in the HUD," Kirito replied.

"Will you let that go already? How do you know she writes the guidebooks? They aren't signed."

"Trust us, she's probably the only one who could," Sinon interrupted. "Anyway. There's a little bit in here about some of the guilds that are forming. Right now the Aincrad Liberation Front is pretty much alone at the top, but there's a few smaller guilds cropping up that are focused just on clearing the game. Not too much on them, since they haven't had much time to do anything, but they're starting to show up."

Kirito hopped off the bed, growing restless. It was already night time, and they'd done less that day than they'd done any day since they'd grouped up. Asuna and Kirito had picked up spare weapons and had repairs done to their primary ones. Sinon had restocked their supplies and picked up throwing knives, now that they were finally available. That was it. Somehow, that had been all they'd done that day. "Come on, let's do something." He started towards the door, not waiting for an answer. He was tired of watching the silhouetted festivities through their window. He had to give it to the ALF, they'd definitely managed to make the day festive.

Sinon tossed the announcements onto the bed as she followed the boy out. Asuna closed her menu and followed. They knew better than to argue. Besides, it wasn't like they wanted to. All three of them had been getting a little antsy. They made their way out of the building and into the snow. They avoided most of the crowds. Even with their newfound fame, they didn't quite trust themselves in large groups yet. The trees surrounding them were heavy with snow, and there was a distinctive crunch that accompanied their every footstep.

"So what are we doing?" Sinon asked the other two. Christmas Eve celebrations didn't usually entail a third person.

"European countries celebrate Christmas a lot more like New Year's. They get together with their families and friends and celebrate life. Maybe we could try that?" Asuna asked. The other two were looking at her like she was crazy. "What? I've always found their culture interesting."

"No, it's not that. I've just never really taken time to learn about other people's customs. Are you sure?" Kirito asked.

"Does it matter?" Sinon cut in. She didn't want to get onto the topic of their own histories. She hadn't had much time for hobbies since the shooting. At least not at first. She had hardly been able to get a moment's peace before her mom had tossed her off to Kawagoe. She knew her mom had just done it so she didn't have to look at her monster of a daughter, but Sinon was grateful. At least now, when she was at home, it was only her own self-loathing she had to deal with. She'd spent what free time she'd had researching guns, hoping to find some way to acclimatize herself to them. No luck, so far. "It sounds like a good way to spend our night, doesn't it? Just hanging out? It's what friends are supposed to do."

"Where are we going, anyway?" Asuna asked their leader. She didn't notice the sly grin on his face until a moment too late.

"Right here," he told her as he whirled and caught her in the face with a snowball. Asuna yelped in surprise as it hit her, eliciting a laugh from Sinon. She glared before reeling on Kirito, scooping up a handful of snow as she went. Kirito darted to the side to avoid Asuna's attack.

"Kirito! Get back here!" She yelled after the young man. Just as she started running, she could see Sinon patting down her own snowball. _Great. They're in this together._

But Sinon didn't throw hers at Asuna, but rather she slung it at Kirito, catching him square in the chest despite his attempts to dodge. Asuna threw another one at Kirito, pelting him in the stomach, then took advantage of her speed to sidestep a snowball from a traitorous Sinon. The whole thing devolved into a mess of snow flying in all directions, any attempt to ball it up quickly forgotten.

"Is that the best you can do?" Kirito asked after Asuna threw a particularly small snowball past his head. He found himself peppered by a number of even smaller snowballs in response. At least she knew how to prove a point.

He tried to dodge the last couple, but slipped and tumbled to the ground. At least he thought he'd slipped until he found himself looking down with a snowball smeared on his leg. "No fair!" he yelled at Sinon. The girl was even deadly accurate with snowballs. He could only assume the two girls turned on each other as he hit the ground. At least they weren't throwing snowballs at him anymore. The three of them were laughing. The true, happy, carefree laughing they'd been able to partake in so rarely since the Tutorial.

He started towards his feet, but as he tried to get up, he found himself looking up into the eyes of his two female friends. They were looking at him with evil grins. Before he could gulp, the two of them buried him in snow. He never actually found out how.

A few moments later he clawed his way back out. Asuna and Sinon were sitting on the ground in front him, Asuna dusting off her cloak where his escape had thrown snow on it. "You started it," she reminded him, a broad smile on her face.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Kirito responded, glancing the other way at Sinon. "Can't you ever miss?" He'd been able to avoid a few of Asuna's shots, but Sinon had hit him with every shot. Not that he'd expected anything less.

"It seems like a bad habit to get into," she responded cheerfully. She tilted her head up to look at the stars poking out through the clearing in the trees. She had to admit, when the world didn't hate them, wasn't trying to kill them, it could be beautiful. "It was a good idea though. Being stuck here. . . it's not so bad with you two."

"I feel the same about you guys," Asuna said. She'd been alone for a while. She knew how tough it could be alone in this world. She'd had school friends back home. No one she was particularly close to, but friends. Just no true friends. She'd never have anyone she'd put her life on the line for. Not except Kouichirou. This was better, in some ways, apart from the fact that the world seemed to be trying to kill them. Or was it? The goblin quests had her rethinking that, too.

"Merry Christmas, ladies," Kirito said, echoing their sentiment but choosing not to parrot the words. They understood his meaning. He laid down between the two, the three of them oblivious to the cold, enjoying the stars, the lights, the snow. For a little while, they were almost able to forget that this world was their prison. With inmates like theirs, it was easy

* * *

 ** **December 25, 2022****

 **3rd Floor**

 **Survivors: 7,949**

Kirito was out in the woods, alone, helping to clear the area. It had been decided that, since they'd neglected any sort of Christmas Eve dinner, they had to do something for Christmas proper. Kirito knew better than to try and help out in the kitchen. In real life, he could get by. In Aincrad, he'd never bothered with that skill. It was just such a bore to grind. So he'd gone off on his own for a while, not really having anyone else to spend the day with. He'd found the woods to be filled with various types of canine enemies. They gave him little trouble.

He dragged his sword through one more of the creatures. He was on his way to the dungeon. He knew that several players had already started scouting it. That meant they'd likely be going after the boss within the week. The pace of the game was accelerating, and Kirito knew that guilds would only make things faster as they improved the organization of the clearers.

He heard a rustling around him immediately after the last hound disintegrated. He stopped still, glancing around, trying to spy the new monsters he was sure were coming. He didn't see any beasts, however. Instead he saw a number of the members of the Aincrad Liberation Front. They moved to surround him. He heard a familiar voice behind him. "There, he's one of the beaters." A familiar voice sounded. Kibaou. Kirito wheeled to face him, sword still in his hand. "Since it's a holiday, we're feeling generous. If you hand over everything you've stolen from the newer players, we'll let you go," Kibaou continued.

"Stolen?" Kirito asked, incredulous. "I've earned everything I have through questing."

"You abandoned us on the first floor. You gathered all that equipment and left the new players to fend for themselves! That coat should belong to Diabel, but you let him die! Now you can either give us your inventory, or we'll have to deal with you. We won't ask again." Kibaou had a sadistic grin on his face. For the life of him, Kirito couldn't figure out how this guy had been close to Diabel.

"I'm not going to waste my breath," Kirito stated. "You're not going to attack me. You can't go back to your guild with an orange cursor and you can't vanish for long enough to get it to go back to green. I don't owe you anything. You're just a bully. You let me walk away, and I won't tell Thinker that you're turning the rest of the ALF into bullies, too." Kirito was surprised by the venom in his words. Kibaou had forced Kirito and his friends to avoid people, for the most part. Looking around, he knew their paranoia hadn't been completely unfounded.

Kibaou just laughed. "You think I'm going to let a beater like you walk away? You really are an idiot. Everyone in that raiding party knows you killed Diabel. We're not going to kill you. We're taking you to the Black Iron Palace. Now you can do the right thing and drop your stuff and then go, or we'll just take you, and you can show just how greedy you are. Last chance."

Kirito doubted these players could keep up with him if they wanted to. He, Sinon, and Asuna, were all level eleven or twelve by now, with most players floating around level five or six. The three of them just did very little in town, and the incremental experience from all the creatures they came across added up. He could fight them off, easy, if he wanted to. But he knew that would cause them even more problems. He couldn't afford to be labeled as orange. It would just prove Kibaou right. Besides, that mark was just too dangerous. "Alright. Go ahead. Warp me. I look forward to hearing you explain why you've got a locked in your prison."

Kibaou produced a corridor crystal, a fairly rare item, especially this early in the game. He gave a wicked grin. "Don't get your hopes up. No one has to know you're there." With that, Kirito heard Kibaou speak the instructions, and he found himself in a cold, dark cell.

* * *

Asuna was pacing. She and Sinon had finished the meal about an hour ago. Kirito should have been here by now, even if he'd lost track of time while he was in the dungeon. Even if he'd had to finish fighting something before he could teleport back. It was only a short walk from the teleport gate. He was beyond late. They knew he tended to get lost in battle, but this was something else entirely.

Sinon was sitting next to the window, the back of her index and middle finger drumming against it absentmindedly. She had a fair view of the streets below, and Kirito wasn't out there. Her drumming stopped as a message alert showed up in the top right hand corner of her field of vision. Strange. No one really used the private messaging system anymore. Everyone was always logged in, and people were rarely far from their friends. She mentally kicked herself for not thinking to use it before now.

She opened it and saw that the message was from Kirito. "He's alive, Asuna," she announced to her friend as she read the message.

 _Ambushed by Kibaou. Trapped in the Black Iron Prison. Bring Agil. Thinker may not know. Prepare for resistance._

Sinon could feel her blood starting to boil. It must have shown, because she heard Asuna's voice coming from behind her. "What's wrong? What happened?"

"It's that rat, Kibaou. He threw Kirito into the Black Iron Prison. Do you have Agil's information? We could use a friendly face."

"Yeah, I do," Asuna replied. She was surprised with herself, but she couldn't keep the hate off of her face. What Kibaou was doing to people was wrong. It was vile. They were going to get Kirito. He was relying on them. There was no question in her mind. They were getting him out. Then they were going to do whatever they could to ruin that orange-haired rat. She found Agil, having added him before the second boss raid, and sent him a brief message asking for his help. She didn't trust herself to write anything detailed.

Sinon check her own list. It didn't take long, none of them had more than four or five contacts. She highlighted Klein, remembering distinctly just how friendly the man had been on the first day. He'd even been understanding when she and Kirito had gone off on their own. She still didn't regret it. She'd had to get stronger. She still did, and here, with her friends, she was the strongest she'd been in a long time.

 _Not sure if you remember me. I'm the girl who hung out with you and Kirito on day one. I hate to ask, after what we did, but I have to. Kirito's in trouble. Can you help?_

She brought up one other player. She'd meant to contact her back on floor one, but part of her had dared to hope that this problem would just go away. As she was starting her new message she that Klein had replied. She was astonished by the speed of his response. He must not have been out clearing at the moment.

 _I'm there._

She smiled. Good. Now it was time to stop being nice. She was going to find out exactly what Diabel had been up to with Kibaou. What exactly made Kibaou tick, and how to hurt him. The best way to beat a rat was to go see the Rat. Now it was time to bring in Argo.

* * *

 **A/N:** So, turns out the holidays ate up more of my time than I'd expected. Hopefully we're back on schedule now.

To answer the questions I got last time, Lind is not an OC. He's just a very, very obscure character from the series I found on the wiki.

Upon rereading this chapter, I decided I needed some sort of explanation as to why Christmas wasn't the Valentine's Day type event it is in Japan. I will try to do some justice to the Japanese version of Christmas, but since I've established that Asuna has an interest in European matters, I tried to make sure that any of my own western bias came through her commentary.


	6. Jailbreak!

**A/N:** Hopefully this chapter clears up some of the pairing questions I've been getting.

Also, I'm curious what you guys want to see more of once we hit new material. Not saying I'll go with popular opinion, but it will at least guide some of my decisions. You more interested in the long term monster quest or seeing more of the guild interplay? We're going to get both, but I have a few chapters before the Witch Hunt really hits full swing.

This chapter almost got split in two, but I refuse to post 'do nothing' chapters, so we just had to wait a bit longer for a much longer piece.

* * *

 **December 27, 2022**

 **1st Floor**

 **Online Users: 7,948**

Sinon felt it was fitting that they were meeting here. Nearly a month ago, the first raiding party had assembled in this very amphitheater. That had been the day all of this started. It already seemed like a lifetime ago. Back then, it had just been her and Kirito, a couple of friends against the world. When they'd arrived at the boss meeting, she hadn't cared who led the way, who got the credit for things. She and Kirito had just been a couple of beta testers trying to hide in the crowd.

Things had changed. They'd found a leader. Diabel had led them all into the bowels of the dungeon and charged into the den of Illfang. Then he'd gotten greedy, and he paid for it. In his place, his friend had risen to take his place, but proven himself to be nothing like their fallen hero. Diabel had been a selfless leader. Kibaou had shown himself to be a petty, selfish bully. He'd tried to turn the player base on itself. He still was. When they'd arrived at the meeting that fateful day, Sinon had only seen a crowd of stranger. She didn't have any idea who any of them were, only that they were here for a common goal. Now, she knew exactly who some of them were. And she was going to ruin one of them.

The number of close friends Sinon had in this world had double that day. Kibaou had imprisoned Kirito, and, unlike Kirito, Sinon didn't care about fair play. Kibaou had crossed the line. Asuna and Kirito were the closest things Sinon had to family. It didn't matter that she'd never met them in real life, that maybe she never would. The one blessing to come from this game had been her friends. She wasn't going to let anyone mess with that.

No killing. Even the rage flooding her wouldn't allow for that. Not with the image of her would be attacker, lying on the ground, covered in his own blood, forever etched into her mind. The thought calmed her some. She had to keep control. She wouldn't repeat the mistake she'd made that day. She knew how fierce she could become when she was protecting someone. Honestly, she wasn't sure she wouldn't do it again. She may have made herself a monster, but her mom and that clerk were alive. Wasn't that worth it? She felt herself starting to freeze as her mind went down that familiar path. She shook her head to clear it. Now wasn't the time to think about that. Her monstrosity was of her own making, but she refused to go down that path again.

She'd lived with the consequences of that action every day since then. She'd been unable to escape it. Any time she went somewhere new, the whispers began within days. Whatever friends she'd managed to make before the rumors began quickly vanished. Sometimes people would try to talk her just to see how killers thought. She'd typically ignore them. Sometimes, though, they stumbled across her crippling reaction to guns. That created bullies. Those enemies had become the closest thing she had to friends. They were the only people in her life that could be relied upon to interact with her.

It had turned her introspective. She spent her time in her own mind, observing the things around her, but seldom interacting. She'd learned to pick up on things. Little quirks of body language. That was one of the reasons it was so obvious to her that Kirito liked Asuna. It was also why it was transparent to her that Kibaou and Diabel had been partners. Diabel hadn't even appeared surprised when Kibaou interrupted them. What did that mean, though? A couple of options occurred to her. Most friends would have been there early or arrived together, so Kibaou may have threatened to boycott the meeting if Diabel didn't say anything to about the betas, and the late arrival and tantrum had been their compromise, or they'd planned that little scene from the get-go. But what did they gain from it? Diabel himself was a beta tester. Was he trying to put himself above suspicion? Well, she was here to figure that out. More specifically, she was here to _pay_ for someone to figure that out.

A blond girl with whiskers drawn on her face made her way down the stairs towards where Sinon was standing on the stage. Sinon had chosen to wait where Diabel had stood, and Argo's interest formed a strange parallel to that of Kibaou. The girl was short, and kept herself mostly concealed in her beige cloak and baggy clothes, a stark contrast to the gleaming of sunlight off of the talons and beak of Sinon's coat. Sinon stepped down from the stage and leaned against it, preferring not to look down at her accomplice the whole time.

"It's been a while, Sinon. How've you been?" the younger girl asked.

Sinon shook her head, remembering the old days. "Not for free, Argo. I remember the rules." In some ways, it was nice to hear that nasal voice again. She and Kirito had been regular customers during the beta, bartering information they'd found on their quests for data about other parts of the world. They'd had a lot more time to visit her in the cities, that time around. Fewer people trying to kidnap them.

"Can't an old friend just ask an innocent question?" Argo asked, hurt in her voice.

"Most can. You can't," Sinon replied.

Argo stuck her tongue at the older girl. "Fine. Still, it's good to see you're alive. You were always a good customer. Kirito around somewhere?"

Sinon shook her head. "That's what I'm here about. I need some dirt on a couple of players, Diabel and Kibaou," as she said the names of the two, she opened her private messaging system and sent the other girl a message containing the two's names. Spelling in this world could be vital. "I know that Diabel was a beta tester. He died fighting the first floor boss. I need to know what connection there is between the two, what Kibaou is up to. Anything that might be useful. How long would you need?"

Argo's brow furrowed as she thought the request over. Most times people just came to her trying to find quests or items. They sought out rewards, trying to get ahead of everyone else. Usually those kind of secrets didn't stay secret long, so she stayed fairly busy trying to stay ahead of things. Now with the rise of guilds, she had a few requests to spy on other guilds, which took a little more time and effort, but paid well enough. Requests involving individual people usually meant someone was looking for beta testers. That obviously wasn't what Sinon was interested in. "Why do you need it?"

"This part of my payment?" Sinon clarified. Argo would take whatever she could get for free, especially since a lot of the data about these floors was public, given the number of beta testers still around.

"Yes. You want data on two individuals, one of them dead. I doubt you could pay for it without giving me a bit more than money. You know I don't come cheap," the smaller girl reminded her, having shifted into her role as a businesswoman.

Sinon nodded, then answered Argo's earlier question. "Kibaou captured Kirito. He's got him in the Black Iron Palace."

Argo's eyes widened at the implications of what this meant. "He violated the Guildpact?" she clarified.

"Yeah. Kibaou's apparently ALF, and now there's a green player in the Prison."

Argo tried not to frown. She wouldn't be making as much money as she'd hoped to off of this job. Sinon was too regular a customer to undervalue the importance of what she'd just revealed. The Guildpact had been created to help ensure at least some level of harmony amongst the guilds. The Aincrad Liberation Front would never have been given the most important building in the game otherwise. Their numbers made them ideal for guarding it, but concessions had been necessary and rules had been made surrounding it. No one really knew what the Guildpact said, not specifically, except for the commanders and vice-commanders who'd signed it. Argo hadn't had any luck finding out about most of what was written in the Pact, but what would be done with the Prison had caused plenty of stir. There'd had to be rules surrounding it. Using it to imprison orange players had been obvious, but what to do with green lawbreakers had been less so.

"Alright, but you still owe me. I'll send you the bill later." She glanced around, scanning the stands. "I've been here long enough as it is," she told Sinon, turning to leave.

Sinon's voice stopped her. "One more thing, this time for free." Argo paused, not looking at her, but obviously attentive. "Kibaou's going after beta testers. Be careful, alright? I'd hate to not get what I'm paying for."

Argo glanced back to her, a smile on her face, "That's not worth much, but you be on the look out too, alright? I'd hate to lose a good customer." She scurried away, having more business to attend to. Always more.

Sinon wasn't even completely sure about that last bit of information, but it was the best theory she had. It was possible Kibaou just hated Kirito because of Diabel's death, and had gone after him alone, but Sinon doubted that. No way Kibaou captured Kirito alone, and the best way to garner support for going after Kirito was using the beta tester thing.

Plenty of questions remained, though. Did Thinker know? Probably not. There was no way he'd risk his guild's base of operations over Kibaou's pettiness. Besides, Thinker hadn't even changed his name from the beta. The ALF had existed back then, admittedly with a less literal meaning to the name. She may not have spent much time with the guild functions of the game, but she'd fought alongside plenty of ALF players. This wasn't how they acted.

Kibaou had support though. No other reason for Kirito to tell them to prepare for resistance. How that was being kept secret from Thinker, she didn't know, but she'd be sure he was enlightened before this was all over. Kibaou couldn't have been stupid enough to forget about the private messaging system. He was probably hoping that she and Asuna would come after him without thinking and get themselves trapped along with their friend. Well, they'd be sure that plan didn't work. Agil and Klein would make plenty good witnesses.

* * *

Asuna made her way to one of the myriad stores in the Town of Beginnings. It amazed her just how many people were still down here, nearly two months into the game. She understood it, though. The fear this game could inspire in someone was crippling. A lot of people had never truly had to fear for their lives before. She hadn't. But how long could you live in fear? She didn't have an easy answer to that. It had taken one of the most painful experiences of her life to snap her out of it. She may be an active floor clearer now, but she had come very close to being just like most the other people in this town. She was immensely grateful she'd avoided that fate.

She pushed open the door to the place and peaked her head in. She was greeted by the sight of Agil cheerfully discussing things with one of his customers, a civilian, by the looks of things. The armor the player was wearing was very nearly the same as the starting armor they'd all received back on day one, and Asuna was pretty sure Agil wouldn't be selling anything too powerful just yet. The man still needed to arm himself, as active as he was during the boss raids. The customer walked off, having apparently finished their transactions, nearly brushing past Asuna on their way out. She rolled her eyes in annoyance as she walked up to the counter across from Agil. "You bought your own store already?" she asked him.

"Nah," he responded, polishing the counter as he talked. "Someone else opened this place and figured they could use a hand. I'll be opening one a bit higher up, so I figured it would be a good way to get some experience in the relevant skills." He put the rag away before he continued. "I got your message. Sinon coming?"

Asuna shook her head. "She's getting us help elsewhere. She'll meet up with us on the way to the Palace."

Agil nodded, understanding. "I knew Kibaou hadn't let go of that grudge. He's almost a household name by now, if you believe it. Telling everyone who'll listen the evils of the beta testers. Still, I never thought he'd do something like this."

"Yeah," Asuna responded bitterly. Her fury was starting to come back to her. She hadn't felt it at first, when Sinon had told her the news. She'd been more stunned than anything else. Exploiting the prejudice that had started to form in the first couple weeks of the game had been disgusting, but this was on a whole different level. To think that he could start throwing whoever he wanted in prison just because they dared disagree with him? They dared to keep what they'd earned? Kibaou thought he was going to get away with imprisoning one of the best clearers this game had simply over a grudge? Asuna was having none of it, and she was going to do whatever she could to take away Kibaou's podium. The only way this ended was with Kirito free and Kibaou in disgrace. She took a deep breath, calming herself, then said, "We're going to get Kirito out before we try to expose him. Can you help us?"

Agil nodded at her. It was sad to see people treating each other like this, but he should have expected it from day one. Teenagers just functioned differently from adults, saw things different, had different priorities. Too many teenagers running this world, putting petty squabbles over not being given enough help over trying to actually do something to help themselves. If the people who whined about beta testers spent that time training and leveling themselves up instead, they'd be in a much better position to survive this game. "Hey, Ishikawa, I'm checking out early today," he called back over his shoulder. He didn't wait for a response, he just started out from behind the counter. An NPC quickly moved to take his place, but the shop wasn't particularly busy to begin with, so it wouldn't have been an issue either way.

He gestured for the young girl to follow as he made his way out of the store. They left the store, heading out towards their chosen meeting place just before the Black Iron Palace itself. "You're not a beta tester, are you?" Agil asked the girl, his eyes staying on the streets in front of him.

Asuna stopped for a moment, shocked at the question. She hurried to catch back up with the older man as soon as she'd regained her composure. "No, I'm not," she confessed. "How'd you know?" It was stunning that anyone was still questioning the idea, even someone who'd been as friendly with them as Agil. Not that he considered it to be a bad thing, but Asuna was generally listed as one of the very few "confirmed" beta testers. She knew Kibaou was to blame for that. He was to blame for a lot of things, as it turned out.

"Just a hunch. You didn't seem nearly as sure of yourselves as the other two back in that first boss fight. You just seemed different from the other two back then. That's changed, though."

"What do you mean, that's changed now?" Asuna asked him.

"You fight like a veteran. You took a lot more initiative last boss battle. The first time you just did whatever Kirito and Sinon did. Those two fought like veterans from the beginning."

Asuna smiled at what she took to be a compliment. "Thanks for asking. It's nice to know not everyone just assumes they know things about me. Not that I mind the title; I proudly stand with the beta testers, but the assumption I'm something I'm not bothers me. I worked to get to where I am. I got here in the same amount of time as the other nine-thousand new players." She paused for a moment, her thoughts suddenly turning to her brother. How would he have fared if it had been him in this game instead of her, the way things were supposed to be? The deeper they went into this game, the more grateful she was that she'd been the one to be trapped in this game instead of him. Everything here was so natural to her. Kirito and Sinon commented on how fast she was every now and again. Other players had emphasized it to the point of making it her nickname. Asuna assumed it was the same as Sinon and her accuracy. Maybe everyone around them was surprised by it, but to her it was just natural.

At least while she was in here, she could be reasonably sure her brother was okay. That gave her more comfort than she could describe. She may have hated this game, but it had not been without its blessings. Her all too brief friendship with Karin and her bond with Kirito and Sinon were things she'd never before experienced. She didn't have to like the game, but she could concede that some good had come from it. But for every good thing, there was a Kibaou. The smile that had been starting to play at the corner of her lips faded as her expression turned to hate.

"You alright?" Agil called back to the girl, now several yards ahead of her. She'd just trailed off and stopped talking all of a sudden.

"Huh?" Asuna blurted out, suddenly pulled back into reality. "Oh, yeah, sorry," she apologized, running to catch up with the man ahead of her, her face only slightly softened. Something was going to change after today. They weren't putting up with this any longer.

* * *

Kirito found himself lying on the bed in his cell, his hands cupped behind his head as he stared up into the ceiling. He'd spent a night here already, and he figured he might have to spend another, but he was confident he wouldn't have to spend any longer than that. He knew his friends were going to get him out. Sinon may give him a hard time sometimes- or all the time- but she'd always had his back, ever since they met during the beta. Asuna had proven herself to behave the same way ever since they'd met her.

Kirito had never once had to worry about something sneaking up on him from behind, not unless both of his friends were stuck fighting their own battles. Even then, the three of them kept an eye on each other's battles. It was new to him. He'd seen the attitude plenty in his video games, some ragtag group that had never met before suddenly willing to throw down their lives for each other, but he'd never had a friendship like that.

He still wasn't sure if he deserved it. He constantly disappointed the person who should have been his closest friend in the world. "Suguha. . ." he voiced aloud. There was no one around him to hear, not that he cared if they did. He'd mostly avoided the temptation to talk to himself, but sometimes it was better than the silence.

He'd shut her out of his life ever since he stumbled across the information that he'd been adopted. It had hurt too much to suddenly find out that so much of his life was a lie. His aunt and uncle had masqueraded as his mother and father, and pretended Suguha was his sister. He'd withdrawn almost completely into video games pretty soon after he found out. He'd resented the two of them for not telling him sooner. He'd shut out Sugu because she'd been part of it. He'd spent the next few years trying not to think about it.

But now, locked in this cell, he had little else to do but think. He didn't worry about planning an escape, the cells in the Black Iron Prison were impossible to escape from. The game's coding saw to that. He didn't worry about Sinon or Asuna. Sinon never would have been taken by surprise like he'd been, and there probably wasn't a person on Aincrad who could catch Asuna in a foot race. Maybe Argo, but there was no way Argo was after them. Argo drew the line at selling out betas. Even she had standards.

He couldn't even let himself turn to his hatred for Kayaba. Undirected hate wouldn't get him anywhere. The man was a monster. He was already responsible for the deaths of over two thousand people, making him upwards of a hundred and fifty times more lethal than Aum Shinrikyo had been. But Kirito couldn't beat Kayaba by hating him. He had to clear the game, then he'd see to it Kayaba was brought to justice. He wasn't going to ruin his friendships with Asuna and SInon. He would beat this world with them, and they would enjoy while they were here. That's how they'd beat Kayaba. They'd refuse to be afraid, refuse to be consumed by what he'd done to them. They'd live.

That left his family for his thoughts to focus on. He regretted how he'd behaved, now more than ever. He'd always regretted how he treated Suguha. She may legally be his cousin, but she _was_ his sister. She'd earned that by putting up with him for all those years, for treating him like he was her brother. She didn't know any better. It was her mother and father that had lied to him. But none of these thoughts were new. He had the same thoughts just before he put on the Nervegear. He remembered that clearly.

He chuckled, amused with himself. What strange things the human mind picked to store away. He'd already vowed to treat Suguha better when he got out of this game, but he renewed it to himself now. Maybe that was why he'd never considered leaving Sinon back on the first day. Why he refused to let her down. She was his sister as much as Suguha was, especially now. There was a reason he let her get away with as many jabs as she took.

He really shouldn't blame his adoptive parents, either. He wasn't sure how he'd have reacted if they'd told him when he was younger that he was adopted. He wasn't sure if he'd have even been able to understand what it meant that his parents had died. And they had raised him ever since, treated him like one of their own. Raised him with the same expectations they would have had for their own flesh and blood soon. They were his parents, if not by blood. He owed it to them to try and make reparations of some sort when he got back out of this death trap Kayaba had put together. It was going to take him some time to forgive his grandfather for the beating he'd received for quitting Kendo, but that didn't have anything to do with adoption.

Every day he was trapped in this game, he found himself with more and more to live for. He'd entered this game as a gamer with few real friends and a strained family relationship. He hadn't really had anything waiting for him when he came out of the Full Dive. Now? He had friends to fight for and family to return to. He'd been gone from them for years. Now he had the resolve to do something about it. There were just ninety-seven floors standing in the way.

He smiled at the ceiling. They'd make it out of here. He and his friends would all make it out. He was sure of it.

* * *

Sinon found herself relieved that Klein's greeting had more reserved this time than it had been last time. She hated hitting her friends, especially in areas where health points were a real concern, but at some point, a line had to be drawn. She was standing in an familiar clearing, hands in her pockets, the wind gently fluttering the tail of coat, watching Klein's soldiers as he coached his guild members. For his part, he'd taken up what looked to be samurai armor since their last fight. At least there was no boar being embarrassed to death this time. "Thanks for doing this for us. I know we didn't leave on the best of terms last time around."

Klein shot her a confused look before turning back to his friends. "What are you talking about? You guys did what you had to do. Nothing wrong with that. Us new players have got to learn to fend ourselves sometime. Besides, it's not like you left us out in the wilderness. The city is plenty safe." Klein didn't bring up the fact that the cities probably had a higher body count than some of the dungeons at this point. The beta testers couldn't have done anything about that. No one could.

Sinon didn't get him. How could he treat this like it was nothing? They'd abandoned him and everyone he was training. At least, she was assuming that these were the people he'd been talking about when he said he needed to stick around and help. She decided not to push the topic, though. If he decided that he didn't resent them for what they did, she certainly wasn't going to argue with him. "How've you guys been holding up?" she asked.

"They're coming along alright," he responded, turning to look at her, "I owe you guys a ton for teaching me what to do back then. Wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for you two." He was smiling, thinking back on that day. "You know, it was pretty fun playing this game back when that's all it was."

"We'll have to pick up where we left off once we clear this game," Sinon replied. She had enjoyed that day, back when this game was an escape from what she had to deal with in real life. To be somewhere she didn't get judged by everyone who found out who she was. Well, that had lasted a month. Now it was just half the people she met. Prejudice didn't go away, it just changed forms, she was learning. Not that she didn't deserve it in real life. Here, at least, some people were telling her she didn't. She checked the time on her menu screen. "Ready to go? Asuna and Agil will be waiting for us."

"Yeah, sure, just give me a mom-" Klein cut himself off as he glanced over at his group of friends. "Oh, for the love of- Harry! If you get you butt whupped by a boar, I'll be bringing another can of it with me on my way back!" He turned back to her with a sigh, massaging his temple with his left hand. "They're getting better, but they don't always pay attention. I think some of them might be looking at you. If anyone says anything, just let 'em down easy, alright? They're good guys."

Sinon just gave him a blank stare. "Uh, sure." Romance hadn't crossed her mind since she'd started playing this game. At least, not her own. Kirito and Asuna were pretty obviously interested in each other, but Sinon just wasn't at that stage. Not only was she not interested, she wasn't interested in being interested. She was thirteen. Besides, there weren't that many people who were interested in dating a murderer. Or a beater.

"Really? Thanks. Alright then, let's get going!" Klein all but yelled. "Where are we going again?"

* * *

As they approached the others, Sinon realized she had forgotten just how imposing the building was, a massive fortress with spires that seemed to reach up and scrape the sky. None of the others had forgotten. She was the only one who hadn't spent weeks in the Town of Beginnings. When Klein started to dash forward, she reflexively caught him by the back of his armor, tearing her eyes away from the building to focus on him, quite sure he'd seen Asuna. "Behave," she reminded him before letting him go. She stumbled forward a bit, rubbing his the back of his head and giving her a sheepish grin as they continued forward.

As they joined the others, Sinon remembered that she didn't really know who need introduction and who didn't. She just decided to introduce Klein to both of them. "Agil, Asuna, this is Klein, he's a friend from-"

She was cut off by Klein darting forward towards Asuna. "I'm Klein, I'm twenty-three, single and-" Sinon returned the favor by slinging him backwards onto the ground by grabbing the same place she had earlier. "Ow, hey, that- oh, wait, still doesn't hurt," Klein complained as he picked himself up and dusted himself off.

Sinon gave a deep sigh. "I did warn you," she reminded him. She turned to Asuna to apologize on Klein's behalf. "Sorry, Asuna. He. . . does that." She couldn't quite find words to make what Klein did seem less obnoxious that it had been. She'd only been exposed to it once, but if he did it to one complete stranger, she'd expected him to do it to all of them.

"I'm Agil, good to meet you," Agil offered, moving the conversation down what would hopefully be a more productive path. Klein shook the larger man's hand heartily, then turned back to Sinon and Asuna, his face suddenly all business. Agil took that as a cue to move things forward. "Asuna never could quite tell me what you guys want me to do. I'm glad to help, but it doesn't seem like there's much for me to do. I take it there's more to this than just getting our friend out."

Sinon gave him a bemused look, stating, "It's good to see you too, Agil." Then she paused, giving a sort of half-shrug, before actually answering his question. "Kirito asked us to bring you along. Since it's Kibaou we're dealing with, it's probably best that we don't just make it his word against ours. I know Thinker doesn't buy into what Kibaou is selling, but people beneath him might."

Agil crossed his arms, concern on his face. "Yeah, you're right. Kibaou's got a pretty hefty following. He's probably got one of his superiors on his side just in case someone tries to go over his head. Would certainly make it easier to keep Thinker out of it."

"Yeah. Maybe Kirito's hoping you can be some kind of character witness. Kibaou probably has him locked away because he can't get over Diabel's death. He's been blaming that on Kirito since the moment it happened," Sinon surmised.

Asuna and Klein had kept their silence throughout the conversation, neither having much to contribute. Asuna preferred to sit back and observe, while Sinon took the lead on this recovery mission. She just cared that the mission was successful. She'd do her part with everything she had.

"Hey, Sinon, maybe Agil and I should lead," Klein called out to the pair in front of him. "If he went after Kirito, you know they'll be on the look out for you two." He picked up the pace, moving to circle around her and take the lead next to Agil. Besides, as the leader of the Furinkazan, he could use the excuse of official business to get them inside. He doubted Sinon had known that when she'd reached out to him. It was just good luck on her part.

"Yeah, good point," Sinon conceded as she slid back next to Asuna, putting the two girls walking behind the two men. She wasn't sure how many people would recognize her with her change of wardrobe, but she wasn't hiding her face and neither was Asuna.

The building was colder than they'd expected. Most buildings in Aincrad were kept at a comfortable temperature, even if there wasn't always a clear reason for it. Kayaba must have decided that including every little minutiae of real life would take away something from his world. It did still function as a game, however sick and twisted it was. Still, that was the one downside everyone commented on whenever they came through. It was always cold, no matter the season. Despite that, they all had to agree that Thinker had outdone himself in acquiring it for his Aincrad Liberation Front. It was absolutely massive. Asuna realized as they were walking in that she'd never actually seen a member of the Aincrad Liberation Front during the boss raids. Sure, she'd met Corvatz during the Quarantine, but that still been in the Town of Beginnings. What were they doing?

Sinon glanced around as they walked, taking in the changes since the beta. She'd spent a lot more time in this building than her pride would allow her to admit during the early stages of the beta. After all, this was where the Chamber of Rebirth had been, and she'd died a _lot_ before getting the hang of this game. She hadn't been to the Monument of Swordsmen which had replaced the chamber. She didn't think she could stand to read it. Not when it was a mockery of what it had once been. A shrine to rebirth turned into a reminder of death.

Agil and Klein were moving with purpose, Klein slightly ahead and obviously leading the way. They moved in silence, each person lost in their own thoughts. Asuna couldn't help but notice how well Klein seemed to know his way around the place. She still wasn't entirely sure about the man, since his entrance had been tactless, to put it nicely. But Sinon seemed to trust him, and he seemed as determined as any of them to get the their friend back out of the prison. The goofiness he'd displayed earlier had been completely replaced by seriousness as he led the quartet down the halls of the massive palace. "Are you part of the ALF? You know your way around pretty well."

"Nah. I'm the leader of the Furinkazan. I spent a few days here while the guilds were getting the Guildpact ironed out. It was kind of a drag, really." He left off the fact that he knew the halls so well because he hadn't actually stayed in those meetings for very long. He didn't have the patience for it when the Dragon Knights Brigade started stirring things up, and they weren't the only offender. Klein couldn't imagine what kind of patience had to have to deal with people like that. Klein had snuck off as often as he could to explore other parts of the Palace. Parts with less yelling. Besides, it's not like he cared who used the palace, so long as it wasn't a hate group like the DKB. Not that anyone else would have signed off on a pact giving them control of the prisons. He and his boys were going to be spending most of their time on the highest floor, as would most of the clearing guilds. Besides, the bigger guilds didn't seem to care very much for his bunch of misfits. He doubted he'd even been missed at the meeting.

He yawned, stretching his arms, swiping downward at the air to open his menu as he did. He opened his messaging system, glad to find the message he'd composed when Sinon had first contacted him was still there. He hit send, then finished another exaggerated yawn, pretending nothing had happened. The girls didn't seem to notice, but Agil shot him a questioning look. He shrugged it off.

The four of them came to a stop in front of a pair of large double doors with a soldier standing guard on either side. "You guys sure about this?" Agil asked over his shoulder. "If this doesn't work, we could all end up being branded enemies of the ALF."

Sinon looked at him, half puzzled, half glaring. "Kirito didn't do anything. I refuse to leave him her to rot just because a bully can't take the fact that his best friend died because he was stupid." The response came out more heated than she'd meant for it to, but every word had been true. Agil would have to bodily drag her out of here if he wanted to get her to stop. Somehow, she didn't doubt he could.

Agil held up his hands defensively, "I'm on your side here. Just wanted to make sure we all know what we're in for." He looked over to Asuna, who bore that same look of fierce determination that had enchanted Kirito during the battle with Illfang. Klein just had a smug grin on his face. These kids were alright. Agil grinned at the group. "I just wanted to make sure you'd thought this through, that's all. We ready?"

The guards had tensed at their approach. One of them was sending a message, Agil surmised, her fingers moving frantically through her menu screen. Klein stepped forward, clearing his voice, as if the guards' attention needed getting. The guards drew their shields and swords, the who had not sent the message speaking for both of them. "This area is restricted. Outsiders aren't allowed in." The one on the left had finished her message before drawing her gear, no doubt alerting Kibaou to the fact that the three of them were here.

"We're here under article Eight. I'm Klein of the Furinkazan, and I'm exercising our right to check that the Black Iron Prison isn't being abused." Asuna wasn't sure what Klein was talking about, she'd only ever heard of the Guildpact in passing. A quick glance at Agil made it clear he knew about as much as she did. Sinon's expression revealed nothing, her eyes still stuck with that same fury that had been release by Agil's question. Asuna decided it was better not to say anything. Klein seemed to know what he was doing. She was glad she hadn't said that out loud.

"Article Eight only allows leaders to inspect the prison. You may enter, but they stay here." The guard replied, gesturing with his chin towards Sinon, Agil, and Asuna. Asuna had no idea if what he'd said was true or not, but she was pretty sure it didn't matter. They were probably supposed to be watching for her and Sinon, and now they were probably just buying time. She would bet good money that Kibaou was on his way.

Klein smiled. "Look, guys, I'm trying to be nice here. You can either let us through," he waved his hand vaguely in the air, making it clear that he meant all four of them, "Or I can get Thinker to come down here, get you guys Blacklisted for failure to comply with the 'Pact, and then go check things out. We both know nothing in Article Eight stipulates that leader has to go alone." Klein's friendliness was not entirely feigned. After all, he didn't know what real involvement these players had with Kirito's capture, if any. "Come on, now, don't make me be that guy."

"Article Eight does not allow Guildless players access to the Prison. We can't know whether they're trustworthy or not. For all we know, they could be working with the orange players." The guards didn't move from their spots. If anything, they seemed to move slightly closer together, as though they thought the group was going to try to rush between them.

"They're green for crying out loud!" Klein yelled at them, his annoyance starting to show. If they were going to stall them, they could at least have the decency of not insulting them, too. He gave a deep sigh, then started to say something else when he felt a heavy hand on his shoulder. He looked up, seeing Agil behind him.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of this," Agil said told Klein. He said it just loud enough for the guards to hear, and he began walking towards them.

"We can't let you in here." The first guard stated as the two moved ever closer together. When Agil didn't stop moving, he continued. "We'll use our weapons if we have to."

Agil never broke stride. He knew a lot of players were afraid of him when they first saw him. A lot of people were in general. You just didn't see that many black men in Japan, especially not men his size. When one of the soldiers took a panicked swung at him, he caught the weapon by the blade. It couldn't cut his skin while he was in a town, and his own he was simply stronger than the soldier. He didn't budge. The other one tried swinging at him, but it had the same result. The other three members of the party started to follow after him, but keep a few feet between themselves and the big man. "Man, these are some really low grade weapons," he told the guards. "Tell you what, if you ever want something good, go by Ishikawa's. It's just a ways down the road. It may be a little expensive, but our wares are definitely worth the price." With a sudden jerk, he yanked the weapons out of the soldiers' hands and tossed them to the ground behind him. He then picked up each of them by the collar, and slung them unceremoniously down the hall away from the group. "It really would have been easier if you'd just let us through."

Asuna and Sinon exchanged looks. It had been a good idea they'd gotten help for this job. There was no way they would have even gotten this far. Brute force wasn't their strong suit, and they had none of Klein's apparent political clout to back them. The two nodded at each other, then hurried after Agil.

"Nice one, big man!" Klein exclaimed as he clapped Agil on the back. "You should have seen their faces, they were all like-" Sinon jabbed in the back, cutting off his train of thought. "Right, yeah, rescue mission. Sorry."

Agil just shook his head at the younger man. He really was a piece of work. Agil threw open the double doors and motioned for Klein to lead the way. No one had to tell him twice.

"So did they tell you the layout of this place when you were here discussing the Guildpact?" Sinon asked her friend. Knowing your way around the Palace was one thing, but Sinon had never set foot in the prison before. It hadn't seen that much use in the beta, where most the players were more willing to play nice. That, and most of the PvP had been turned off.

"Nah, we had to tour it. We had to know what kinds of criminals would be put where, how the prison works, that sort of thing. It's actually pretty fragile from the outside. That's why they have the guards there, though there should have been four of them. Kibaou probably couldn't find that many who were willing to stick their necks out for him. Anyway, the walls are Immortal Objects, so it's impossible to break out once you get locked in. They can't mess with your inventory, but teleport crystals don't work in here. The doors only open from the outside. Corridor crystals drop you off in here and the guards put you in your cell. For orange players, messages are disengaged, and some of the other options are shut off. We're not sure what set it all up." Klein turned to the right, to one of the many doors lining the walls. It opened readily, and that's when the group found cells. Most of them were empty since there hadn't been much time to go after orange players yet, but a few of them were inhabited. Further down the hall, they found who they were looking for.

"Kirito!" Asuna called out, running to the boy's cell. Klein caught her by the arm before she could open the door.

"What are you doing?" It was Sinon's voice now, which Klein was glad to hear was more confused than furious.

"Kibaou's on his way. Thinker will be here in about five minutes. We can't let Kirito out before he gets here. If we do, we don't have any evidence that Kirito was imprisoned unjustly. Much as I may not like it, if we want Kibaou thrown out, we have to wait," the displeasure at the course of action was evident on his face.

"So that's what that was," Agil commented to the shorter man, his hands firmly on Sinon's shoulders. He thought she'd see reason, but he knew how protective she was.

"That's what what was?" Asuna asked.

"He sent a message earlier. Well, he was at least fiddling with the menu. I couldn't see it clearly with Agil in the way," Sinon answered.

"Wait, you saw that? You were right behind Agil the whole time!" Klein yelled out his disbelief.

"Man, you haven't been around them very often, have you?" Agil joked, releasing his grip on Sinon. Her anger seemed to be buried beneath her analytical side now. "Sinon sees everything."

"You planned this whole thing out from the moment I messaged you yesterday, didn't you?" Sinon accused the man, though it was evident from her face that she was impressed.

"Of course I did. I'm not just a pretty face you know," Klein responded.

"Uh, guys, still trapped in the cell over here," Kirito called out. He'd heard everything they'd said, but that didn't mean he didn't want out as soon as possible.

"Sinon, what do you think? Do I let him out?" Asuna asked. She ached to do exactly as she asked, but if it was really better for Kirito in the long run, she could hold herself back.

Sinon was visibly mulling it over when Agil's voice cut through her thoughts. "Too late. Look who's here." The man turned around, putting himself now at the front of the group, though Klein slid around him to put both of them between Kibaou and the girls. Sinon stood behind him to his right, giving Kibaou a glare that was more piercing than her daggers. Asuna stayed where she was, as close to Kirito as possible.

"What's going on?" Kirito asked her, unable to get a see much of anything from inside his cell. He'd been stuck in here for just under a day now, but he could see just how maddening it would be to be imprisoned for any prolonged period of time. So far, it had just given him time to think through things that he'd needed to deal with. He knew he'd run out of those pretty quickly. Not that murderers didn't deserve what they got in here, but he was glad he was, hopefully, about to get out.

"Kibaou's here. I think he's going to try and lock us all up, but I'm not sure how he plans to do it," Asuna informed him. There were only so many other explanations for the ten or so extra men Kibaou had brought along.

"I figured you guys would show up, so we prepared a couple of extra rooms for ya. Free of charge. You can go quietly, or we can put you in there, but there's no way you're walking back out of here," Kibaou announced. The hall was narrow enough that his soldiers could only fit through it in lines of three, and one of them was starting to move forward.

"What did we ever do to you?" Sinon asked. She was more than fed up with this attitude.

"You're all cheaters and traitors. You left us all to die. You think we weren't going to get you back for that? You think there wouldn't be any consequences for it?"

Agil spoke up next. "You know better. One of your 'confirmed' beta testers," he drew out the word to make sure his sarcasm was clear, "is the fastest mapper we have. She doesn't even charge that data." He knew that she charged for pretty much everything else, but that information was one of the most valuable things on Aincrad. Losing it would at least double the amount of time it took to clear each floor and slowly drop the overall power level of the clearers, since it'd be much harder to find quests with good rewards.

"What do I care? She still doesn't fight. She doesn't give us equipment to do our own fighting with. She just tells us where it is and leaves us to fend for ourselves. None of their kind are willing to make reparations for what happened. We lost two thousand players that first month, you think they care?" Kibaou continued his tirade.

Sinon's glare turned from one of anger to hate. There were so many things she wanted to say, so many things she wanted to do. She balled her hands into fists, tightening until it would have hurt in the real world, and held her tongue. Their friends were doing a fine job on their own.

Klein spoke up next, an edge in his voice. "It doesn't matter what you think of beta testers. You've put a green player in Prison. You've got enough trouble on your hands already."

Kibaou smirked. "I don't know what you're talking about. The player you're trying to free is only green as on a loop hole. I see a bunch of beaters and sympathizers that broke in to try and release him and the other orange players. That's worthy of imprisonment, isn't it? It's my job as the Fourth Sub-commander and Warden of the prison to stop that." Kibaou hadn't expected to get nearly this lucky. Not only had he gotten the three sainted beaters, but he'd picked up a couple of sympathizers for his troubles. There was no way out of here, not with him and his ten men between the beaters and the exit. That's why his composure started to crack when Klein broke out laughing. "Hey, what's so funny?"

Agil cracked a smile and Sinon's lips twisted in a vicious grin as she, too, saw what Klein was laughing at. Asuna felt a wave of relief flow through her, and Kirito found himself still left out of the loop. He was with Kibaou on this one. What _was_ so funny?

"I don't think you're a sub-commander anymore, Kibby," Sinon stated. She made a point to emphasize every word.

"What?! What did you just call me?" He raged, then, after a moment, "Of course I'm the Sub-commander. I-"

"-Are no longer a member of the ALF, Kibaou. Thank you, Klein, for bringing this to my attention," a cool, measured voice came from behind the crowd of soldiers. Kibaou's assitants frantically turned and saluted the man. He was regally adorned, conveying a mixture of nobility and generalship. He was accompanied by a grey haired woman whose attire was similar to his own. "You ten, Yulier will debrief you. Your fate will be decided later. Dismissed." Thinker stood still as the woman stepped aside, allowing the ten men to march out of the room. No one protested. None of them made so much as a peep.

"Wait, where are you going?" Kibaou screamed at the men, who gave no response. "What are you doing?" He reeled on Thinker. "These people are murderers, they stood back and let people die, they knew-"

"That is _enough_." Sinon yelled, jumping past Klein and Agil and charging at Kibaou. The orange haired man barely had enough time to turn his head to see her fist flying at him. He dropped like a stone. He put one had on the ground, trying to push himself to his feet, but as soon as he lifted his head he saw Sinon's boot coming right at his face.

"You keep throwing those words around," she began, her voice like cold steel. She should have been trembling. If there had been a gun anywhere in the room, she had no idea how she'd react. She'd never felt anger quite this powerful before. She wanted to hurt Kibaou. She wanted to hurt him bad. She wasn't sure where she'd stop. She was tired of hearing him use that word. Murderer. As if he really knew what that label meant. What it did to someone. "Asuna, let Kirito out." Her voice didn't tremble. It didn't betray the fear of the judgment she was sure to incur. Her mind was focused on one thing. She was a murderer. She bore that burden. Kirito and Asuna were not.

"I'm not finished with you," she barked at Kibaou as he tried to crawl away. Thinker moved to stand between Kibaou and the exit, shutting the door behind him. His face was impassive. Kirito and Asuna had moved in front of Agil and Klein, willing to go to their friend if she needed them. No one was willing to say anything. Asuna and Kirito had never seen her this angry. "Your friend didn't die because Kirito, or Asuna, or anyone killed him," she stopped to kick him as he tried to talk. She knew he didn't feel the pain, that it couldn't do any real damage, so she didn't hold back. It made her feel better. "He didn't die because someone withheld information from him. He died because he was greedy. He died because he wanted to get the Last Attack Bonus for himself. He didn't even bother to look at the weapon the boss was using. Everyone in the room should have seen that that wasn't a Talwar. But you can't admit that. It can't be his own fault. So it has to be ours. You don't know what murder is. What it means. You've never killed anyone. You've never experienced that, so don't you dare throw that term around. You've never had to deal with the consequences of it. Never had to deal with admitting that there's blood on your hands. No, you just want to push people around. You just want people to give you things without having to work for them. You don't want justice for the two thousand players who didn't make it through the first month. You want free stuff." She picked him up by the collar. She would have spat on him that was a game function. "You accuse us of not caring. You have to gall to accuse _us_ of not doing enough. The only two people to have finished bosses, and we haven't done enough. You use their memory for the sake of extortion, and _we_ are the ones who don't care. You're the one who deserves to be here. You're nothing better than a bully. No, actually, you're worse than that. You dishonor the dead by invoking their names as if it gives you some kind of power or privilege." She threw him down, bouncing him off the ground. He wasn't struggling anymore. He was too transfixed by his attacker. "You disgust me." She kicked him one more time, then turned her back on him, slowly, pointedly, and walked away from him.

"Does anyone else have any words for him?" Thinker replied, apparently unfazed by the tirade that Sinon had just released. No one spoke up. Most of the room was still too stunned to speak. Kibaou didn't even move. He seemed to be surprised that he escaped with his life. The vehemence of the speech had almost made him forget that the game made it impossible for him to die here. Thinker accepted the silence as an answer to his question. "Klein, as the representative of the Furinkazan, it is your right to demand that this be brought before the signers Guildpact. I have removed Kibaou from the ALF and can have him held for questioning and imprisonment, if you wish."

"No," it was Kirito who finally spoke up, having been unable to interact with anything that had gone on so far, either being caged or transfixed. "Don't put him in here. He'll still have his messages. He'd just stir up trouble. He'd probably make friends in here and then get a gang together to bust him out, along with some of the orange players. If it's all the same to you, I'd like to request that he be banned from," he paused, "what did you call it? Guildpact? Guildpact areas."

Thinker looked over at Klein. "Is that acceptable to you?" Even if Kirito was the victim in this, he was guildless, and therefore had no real say in Guildpact decisions. It was unfortunate, but guilds were already starting to soak up most of the game's clearers, and Thinker could could only act within the Pact's jurisdiction. Klein nodded, giving his assent. Thinker opened the door, where two ALF guards, wearing fancier regalia than that of those they'd seen so far, were waiting. "Find a cell for him. He is to be kept there until we can have things sorted out. Klein and myself will stand witness that he has violated the Guildpact," Thinker ordered, gesturing to Kibaou.

"Wait," Kirito interrupted. "I'd like to say something first." He took several measured steps closer to where Kibaou was standing. "I'm sorry." He told him. "I'm sorry I didn't save your friend. Diabel was a good man. He refused to take help, and I'm sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't keep Illfang from getting to him. It still haunts my dreams some nights."

Kibaou was glaring at the wall behind Kirito. He was still getting over his shock at Sinon's outburst, but his hatred for Kirito was helping him return to himself. Thinker, sensing that there was no more to be said, silently gestured to his elite guards to haul Kibaou away.

He turned back to the others. "I'm sorry for the difficulty that my former subordinate has caused you. I'd like to make it up to you somehow. I'll have some restitution for you as soon as all of this is sorted out. I hope you won't let this tinge your view of the whole of the ALF."

"Just have him thrown out in disgrace," Asuna remarked bitterly.

Kirito took a moment to compose himself, taken aback by his friend. "No, we understand this wasn't an ALF action," Kirito told Thinker. "This isn't the first time we've had problems with him. It probably won't be the last, either. It's just good to know that there are some people who are still on our side through all of this."

Sinon was trembling now that the crisis had passed. All of her fury and strength had evaporated, and she slumped to the ground. Agil offered her his hand and helped her back up. She stood, but found herself having to lean on the man for balance. She was completely drained.

Thinker nodded. "People like that are going to cause a lot more deaths before this game is over. There's no room for that. If we can't work together, clearing this game will be impossible. It's already geared to pick us off. We don't need to be running each other through on top of that." He paused for a moment. "I'm sorry for all of this trouble. Klein, are you satisfied that there are no more transgressions here?" When Klein again voiced his agreement, Thinker continued, "Well then, I think it would be best if we left this dismal place behind." The six players filed out, Kirit, Asuna, and Klein leading the way, with Agil supporting Sinon as they made their way out behind them. Thinker took one last look around and shook his head. It was a tragedy that this place even needed. He gave a deep sigh, saddened by the day's events, the walked out, closing the door behind him.

* * *

The trio found themselves in a room in a familiar inn on floor one. Asuna and Kirito were seated next to each other on the edge of the bed with Sinon curled up in front of them, her back touching their legs. To Asuna, it seemed like she was simultaneously seeking comfort from them and unable to face them. Agil had helped her as far as the inn, at which point she forced herself to walk on her own. After that, Agil and Klein had needed to go back to their own lives, Agil back to the shop and Klein back to taking care of his friends in the Furinkazan. They'd decided they'd get together to celebrate another day. This one had taken too much out of all of them.

Kirito and Asuna knew that the other two would want to meet up and plan a course of action to deal with Kibaou from now on, but, honestly, neither of them wanted to drag the two men into their fight again. The beaters were the ones being targeted. No need for Klein or Agil to have to deal with that.

Asuna was sitting right next to Kirito, their legs almost touching. It helped Sinon somewhat to have both of them there for her, and neither Kirito nor Asuna had noticed the proximity. Kirito put a hand on Sinon's shoulder, trying to comfort her. The girl was breathing heavily. "Hey, it's okay. We're still here for you." Asuna mimicked his gesture, both desperately wanting to help, but able to figure out just what was wrong.

Sinon started shaking at their touch. Kirito could hear her crying softly. Had they done something wrong? "It's alright, Sinon. Talk to us. We're your friends. Let us help," Asuna entreated her. She felt as much as heard the deep breath her friend took. The crying shuddering of the crying was subsiding a bit, at least.

Sinon took another deep breath, steeling herself for what was to come. She'd known it couldn't last. People like her didn't get to have friends. These few months had been some of the best of her life, but everything had to end, right? "You're going to hate me if I tell you. Everyone always does."

"Shhhh. . . We're still here. We're your friends. We won't hate you," Asuna responded. "We won't judge you. We promise." She gave Kirito a meaningful look when he seemed as though he wasn't going to respond.

Though the words didn't quite come naturally, after all, what fourteen year old boy knows how to deal with a crying girl, Asuna glance made it clear he needed to say something. "Yeah. We won't judge you. You're our friend. You've saved our lives more than once. What's going on? Let us help," Kirito all but parrotted his friend.

Sinon turned to face them, causing the two of them to pull their hands away. Her eyes were red from crying. "He shouldn't have been calling you murderer, Kirito. You're not. You're not even close," she told him. "You shouldn't have apologized. You didn't do anything wrong."

"I thought it might help. Besides, it's true. There are still nights where Diabel's death takes over my dreams," he responded.

"I know," Sinon responded. "But you're not a murderer. You're just not."

Kirito tried to console her. "I know. Thank you. I know I'm not a murderer. It doesn't matter what he thinks of me. He's one of the most despicable people I've ever met."

Sinon shook her head, smiling weakly at Kirito and Asuna. "You're welcome. But that's not what I meant. I know that you're not a murderer because I know what murder is." She paused, taking a deep breath. Then she took the plunge. "I know because I'm a murderer." She wasn't surprised by the stunned look on her friends faces, but she continued before they could ask questions. This was hard enough as it was. "I shot someone. Not just once. I shot him three times. That's why I'm here. I thought maybe this world would let me escape that for a while. Maybe I could live my life without the label for a while. He was going to shoot my mom," she said, her voice breaking. "I couldn't just stand there. He'd already killed a man. He was going to shoot others. He was going to shoot my mom. So I bit him. I bit him hard. I don't know what happened after that, I just know he hit me and I had the gun. I was so small. I could barely pull the trigger. I told him not to move. I was terrified. I just wanted him to stop. But he kept coming. He kept trying to attack me. So I shot him. I hoped he'd stop, but he wouldn't. He just. . . he _just kept coming_." She'd been crying for some time now, and now all she could do was try to fight off hysterics. "I kept shooting. He'd have shot more people if I didn't. But then. . ." she trailed off, the image of the damage from the last shot seared into her memory. She couldn't speak anymore. She was weeping, trying her best to hide her face from her friends.

Asuna crouched down next to her friend and put her arms around the younger girl, putting Sinon's head on her shoulder. "Hush now. It's alright. You were protecting yourself. You were protecting your mother. It wasn't your fault. You're not a murderer." Asuna was still processing what she'd been told. She was certain of one thing, regardless of what Sinon said. Her friend was not a murderer. Sinon had never once done anything to endanger any of the other players. Asuna's friend was broken, and that much she could help. She felt another pair of arms envelop the both of. Kirito was hugging the two of them, if a bit awkwardly. Asuna had to give him credit for trying.

Sinon just cried harder. This was the most stunning thing that had happened to her in SAO. Somehow, more than the fact that she couldn't escape, more than the fact that the game was now played for keeps, the fact that her friends hadn't _run_ shocked her more than anything. She'd just known that these two would run off like all the others. Her tears were still those of anguish, sorrow, and the hate of who she was, but now they were tempered with timid happiness. The girl hadn't had friends in years. Even her own mother didn't want her. Was it really possible that now she had two? She just wept into her friends' arms. She just knew she'd wake up and find out they weren't there, that they'd run off in the night. But for now, she'd just accept the warmth of their embrace, and the friendship they still seemed to feel for her.

When she woke the next day, she found that Asuna was still there. She wept harder than she had the night before.

* * *

 **A/N:** We all have broken friends. We don't always know what our friends have been through. Never be afraid to ask. There are few things people need more than a simple shoulder to lean on. People go through things we can't imagine without ever letting it show. Be there for each other. I'm going to put myself out there with this one, though I doubt anyone will take me up on it. Just as I said in chapter two, if anyone ever needs to talk, I'll make time. We're all humans. We all need help sometimes.

I'm still working out what exactly the Guildpact is, and that will probably end up being released as a separate document or be worked into a chapter if I ever feel the need to make it public. Any ideas as to what that kind of thing would entail are certainly welcome.

So how does everyone feel about how Agil and Klein are turning out? Did I do Sinon justice?


	7. Down by the River

**A/N:** Thanks for all the feedback after the last chapter. I'll be ironing out the kinks to the Pact as the story goes on. I'm sure Argo will discover it for you all at some point.

Thank you to everyone for all the great feedback concerning Sinon.

This will probably be the last chapter with only minor changes made (the previous version had Asuna defeating Baran, and omitted the Plague). After this we're really going to be delving into new territory, which I'm sure everyone who read the first version of this story has been looking forward to.

* * *

 **January 2, 2023**

 **2nd Floor**

 **Online Users: 7,944**

"I feel bad for turning down Klein's offer," Asuna told her two friends. "Are we sure we don't want to go?"

"We still can't risk showing our faces in town. We'll make it up to him next year," Kirito responded.

"It just doesn't feel right doing nothing for New Year's like this. Are you sure you don't want me to cook?" Asuna double checked. She'd hoped to be able to do something for her friends, something to help cheer them up. Kirito had been a lot moodier since his stint in the Black Iron Palace, and Sinon still seemed pretty vulnerable after the ordeal. Asuna couldn't help but feel there was more she should be doing for her friends.

"Trust me, he wants you to cook," Sinon contributed from her spot at the back of the line.

"I-" Kirito began, flustered, "I - I just don't think it'd be wise to be in town that long. That's all." Klein had asked them to spend the afternoon with the Furinkazan, partly to celebrate the New Year, and partly to celebrate the clearing of floor three. For the first time, someone not in their little group had landed the finishing blow. Lind, the leader of the Dragon Knights Brigade, had demanded to be given the final attack. Since the boss's change in attack patterns at the end of the fight hadn't been as dangerous as the last two had been, the trio hadn't needed to jump in, and they didn't care if someone else finished one for a change. Still, even if they didn't care, Heathcliff and some of the other clearers hadn't been happy about it. After all, one of the agreements before the fight was started was that whoever got a chance to kill it did, and whoever got an item kept it. Since he'd gotten what he'd demanded, it was likely Lind's demands were only going to get worse. Even in a game that seen more than one fifth of its players die, people still refused to work together.

"Why don't we just sleep in the cave? We're here often enough," Sinon asked, picking up the conversation as it threatened to die down. The three of them, having becoming even more properly paranoid after the Kibaou incident, had reluctantly turned down Klein's offer. Instead, they were making their way up a familiar mountain trail. In all the commotion, they'd almost forgot about the goblins' offer to build something for Sinon. Besides, the mountain seemed like one of the safest places they could be right now. They'd never even heard of anyone else finding out about a quest involving talking goblins. It seemed like they really had stumbled across some sort of rare quest.

"We probably could find somewhere to lay down for a bit if we really needed to. We haven't really explored the cave very much," Asuna offered.

"I just can't wait to see what sort of cool weapon they've built for you, Sinon," Kirito intoned. "They said they couldn't make bows-we'll have to ask Kurat about that next time we see him-so what do you think they made to get get around that?" He couldn't help but wonder if there was some sort of rare item waiting for them in the cave. It was a strange quest they'd stumbled across. It felt a little off. Apart from this quest, the game had been pretty fair. Not in the sense that they'd been given any sort of warning as to what they were getting into, but in the sense that the mechanics and the systems built into it affected everyone evenly. No one could die in the cities or safe zones. No one could break into homes or hotel rooms. You had to have a relatively advanced skill just to eavesdrop. Stores couldn't be stolen from. Inventories couldn't be manipulated by anyone but their owner, items that were taken from your hand could be recalled with a button in the inventory system, making theft impossible but lending during combat fairly easy. This sort of unannounced rare quest seemed to fly in the face of everything he'd observed so far. Unfortunately, all that left him with were suspicions about what the quest wasn't, but left him in the dark as to what the quest actually was.

"We'll all find out pretty soon," Sinon responded. She had a pretty strong feeling she'd need to reshuffle her inventory to allow for the new weapon, whatever it was. This game was weird when it came to equipping multiple weapons at once. You could wield multiple weapons, so long as they were daggers or smaller, but doing so deactivated your ability to use sword skills. Shield bashing seemed to circumvent this limitation, at least if Heathcliff was any indication. It also didn't seem to apply to thrown weapons, since the act of throwing was a sword skill itself. Larger weapons couldn't be dual wielded at all. No one had quite figured out why, but no one had found a way to circumvent it yet, either.

The game seemed to be getting easier overall as everyone seemed to be getting more comfortable with their equipment. It was their world now, even if they wanted nothing more than to get back out of it. Fashion trends were starting to crop up here and there as players started to specialize in tailoring. As soon as the first custom armors had started showing up, the trade had exploded. Smithing, tailoring, and trading had become some of the go-to trades for noncombatants who wanted to help finish this game. Some of the armors looked truly original, but a lot of them were heavily derived from other games or from history. Not that that was necessarily a bad thing. At the end of the day, people could still look like whatever they wanted to, however cliche. Swords were starting down the same path. Shields, too, seemed to be picking up in popularity, since a number of players were beginning to use them as a concession to survivability. Some people still felt they weren't worth the col needed to purchase them, since only the game's best clearers really had enough money to buy everything they wanted, but the people who had them swore by them. Sinon, Kirito, and Asuna had declined to pick one up, not for fashion, but because it was incompatible with Asuna and Sinon's fighting styles and Kirito always preferred attack over defense.

"So what do you guys usually do for New Years?" Asuna asked her friends, hoping to stir the conversation down a more positive path, even at the risk of bringing up memories of a happier time. They'd come to terms with the fact that they were stuck in this world, but that didn't always make things easy. Days like Christmas Eve and New Years were particularly hard on holiday people.

"My aunt and uncle would have my grandparents over and we'd have dinner together. Once my sister and I got old enough, they'd let us stay up for the ringing of the bells. Other than that, we didn't really do anything special," Kirito replied, almost dismissively. He hadn't had a happy New Years in a long time. Maybe that was his fault for refusing to engage with his family, but ever since he'd found out he was adopted, a lot of family things had stopped being fun. Still, now that he was trapped in here, he found himself missing those days. At least his family had made the effort. Those were some of the few times he really spent time with Suguha. "What about you?"

"My family did pretty much the same. It was always nice to finally get to see my father. He's always so busy at work. Mother might even smile a little bit when he was around. Sometimes." She sighed, mentally brushing away any thought of her mother. "My brother and I would stay up all night just to listen to those bells. One time I fell asleep halfway through them, and he just let me sleep! I was so angry at him. . ." She trailed off, realizing the triviality of it now. "Sorry. That's not important. What about you, Sinon?"

"I don't really have a family anymore," she told them, though she opted not to go back over why her mother hated her again. Admitting that once had been hard enough for her. "I've spent the last couple New Years alone, but it's been kind of nice. I used to turn the television to whatever channel was playing Beethoven's Ninth that year, turn it up as loud as I could get away with, and then plant myself in front of the window and watch the fireworks go up over the bay. It was awe inspiring. It was one of the few times of the year I could truly lose myself in something."

"We're here," Kirito announced, bringing the conversation to an abrupt halt. The trip seemed shorter than usual this time around. The slid inside in silence, making their way down the cave's familiar passages. They all knew that the goblins wouldn't hurt them anymore, or shouldn't, but none of them had forgotten what happened the first time they came through here. Besides, recent events hadn't exactly encouraged them to take chances. It wasn't that they didn't trust them, the goblins had been incredibly hospitable to them, just that some habits took time to break.

The trio headed directly for Troust's office, still not ready to explore any of the side tunnels. They didn't want to stay too long this time around. Events had kept them from doing as much clearing on floor three as they would have liked, and the fourth floor seemed like it was going to be particularly interesting. They wanted to get up there as soon as they could. Troust looked up from his work, giving them the same annoyed look he'd given them the first time. He seemed to have been writing something, probably filling out a ledger. "You three are back again? I suppose you're here for your weapon."

"Yeah. You told us it would take about two weeks. How's it looking?" Sinon asked. She had promised herself that she would try not to snap at the goblin, not after what happened when they first met him. After all the prejudice she dealt with, she really didn't want to turn around and do the same to others. Still, he tried her patience sometimes. Most NPCs were far more cooperative than he had been. Then again, it was growing increasingly clear that nothing about this area was normal.

The goblin nodded, as though that somehow answered her question, then turned around and began rummaging through a pile of things behind him. "I thought you'd be here today. It's here somewhere." A few moments later he turned around, smiling, a box in his hands. "Here we are. This was made by the best armorers on Troust. You won't be disappointed." He placed the box on the table between the two of them and Sinon went to take it. He gently smacked her hand away and shook his head. Apparently he wanted to keep the box. He opened it himself, revealing a polished chakram. A bladed ring with a handle running through the middle. She picked it up by the handle, feeling the weight, rolling it in her hand. It felt good. Heavy enough to have some bite, but light enough to still be thrown effectively. It certainly wasn't what she'd been hoping for, but the spears in this game were far too slow, and Troust had told her earlier that there were no bows to be found. Maybe this was the best she'd find. Now she just had to learn how to use it.

A menu popped up in front of her, asking if she wanted to purchase the weapon. She noticed the col cost, a pittance compared to the prices she was seeing for much lower quality items in player run shops. Besides, she wasn't going to find anything like it anywhere else right now. She bit her tongue about needing to pay for it, since Troust had never actually said it was free, and hit the buy button. She opened her menu, looking through her weapons, ready to equip it, and checked how she needed to reconfigure her loadout. She found it readily, and the chakram appeared on her left hip, next to her throwing knives, which had been moved back slightly, leaving her primary dagger on her right. She'd all but given up on using swords for now. There was no point when she had two of the finest swordsmen in the game with her and she could fight so effectively otherwise. She did find it odd that the game allowed her to equip both weapons at once.

Sinon gave Troust a tentative smile. "Thank you, it looks like it's a masterful piece of work." He'd held up his end of the bargain, and there was nothing wrong with being courteous.

He nodded. "Of course," he replied, as though she had been stating the obvious. And maybe she had. From what little she'd seen, the faction of goblins that Kurat ruled had no subpar equipment. "His Majesty has a message for you," Troust continued, though he was looking at Kirito now. "He asks me to tell you that the people of Memoria are not your enemies." Troust made his way around the table, beckoning them with his hand. The three quickly realized he was beckoning them out.

"What does that mean?" Kirito asked, since the message had at least seemed like it was directed at him. Sinon wasn't completely paying attention, her mind already going over the different ways she could utilize her new weapon. Asuna had taken her usual approach of simple observation. Even if it wasn't directed at him, it was left to him to respond.

"That is all His Majesty wished said. I shall say no more than I was instructed." Troust told him. He opened his door, politely gesturing for the three players to leave. "I'm sorry to cut this short, but there is much to be done. My people need my attention. Grenang's wife is due any day now, so schedules will have to be reshuffled. I do wish they'd have alerted us earlier."

The three of them made their way out of the room, dumbfounded at what they'd just overheard. "I'm not the only one that heard that, am I?" Asuna asked her friends. Whatever this quest was, it was far more immersive than she'd expected.

Sinon had been jolted out of her train of thought by Troust's last comment. "Something about a goblin having a baby?" she asked, needing to double check for herself.

Kirito shook his head, laughing. Well played, Troust, well played. there was no way any of them was going to be able to press him about Memoria after the shock of his last comment. "Yeah." For once, he didn't really have a follow up, so he just changed the subject. "At least you got your weapon," he said, looking at Sinon. "You planning on practicing with it?" he asked her.

"What? You volunteering?" She responded. Asuna laughed at the comment, nervously at first, then simply at her two friends. Some sense of normalcy had been restored.

* * *

 **January 4, 2023**

 **4th Floor**

 **Online Users: 7,940**

Asuna was surprised at how strange it felt to be without Sinon for a while. The two of them had taken to sleeping in the same room after Sinon had revealed her past. Sinon had objected at first, not wanting to be a burden, but Asuna had insisted. After what happened to Karin, Asuna refused to be absent when her friends needed her. And she'd been right to insist. Sinon's screaming woke her up almost once a night, and Asuna was glad to have been there when she needed someone to calm her down. The younger girl was a lot more fragile than she was willing to let on.

That's why Asuna had objected so strongly when Sinon had informed her and Kirito that she was going to go off on her own today to take care of some private matters. Kirito, for his part, hadn't objected as vehemently, though he had objected. Sinon just reminded them that the three of them couldn't always be around each other, and she could take care of herself. Besides, they could always track her using their friendlists. When Kirito expressed his approval, Asuna had begrudgingly followed suit. She didn't like it, but at the end of the day, she didn't have to. It was Sinon's choice to make. Besides, as much as Asuna knew how fragile Sinon could be emotionally, she also knew just how good Sinon was at defending herself.

"Why'd you let her go?" Asuna asked Kirito, her eyes on the river in front of them. "You were only gone for a few minutes." This level was strange. Whereas the others had been forests or plains or mountains, this one seemed to be set into the bottom of a valley. The walls around them were nearly all completely vertical, and a quick glance made it clear that there was no way someone was going to climb their way out of the place. Everything was lush, green, and tributaries of the main stream seemed to branch off everywhere, leading to the interior of the valley. The floor would be fertile questing ground for weeks once the clearers moved on to the next floor. It was the same size of the previous ones but with far fewer obstructions. The side canyons and caverns set into the massive plateaus would be explored for quite some time.

Kirito was lying on the grass next to one of the many branches of the river, hands behind his head, staring up into the distant sky. "And you guys had me free the next day. We'll do the same for her if we need to, but we can't stop living our lives just because people don't like us." Asuna was leaning against a moss covered wall behind her, glad that the game's equipment didn't stain, since otherwise there was no way the white clothes she wore would stay that way through this particular floor. The heat and humidity of the area had convinced her to unequip her cloak. The anonymity was useful, but they'd selected this spot specifically to avoid running into other players.

Asuna sighed. As usual, he wasn't wrong. "Is that why you didn't want to go grinding? So we could stop and enjoy ourselves for a little while."

"That's part of it," Kirito told her, not volunteering the rest.

"And the rest of it?" Asuna asked.

"I think we all need a day to unwind. We haven't had a chance to catch our breath since the incident in the Black Iron Prison," he told her.

"Yeah. I guess," Asuna responded. He wasn't wrong. They'd kept moving ever since then, only coming back to town under the cover of night to sleep. Besides, it wasn't like she wasn't enjoying the downtime. The view was beautiful. "How are you holding up? Kibaou said some nasty things back there."

"I try not to let it bother me, but what I said back there was true. I really do see Diabel dying in my dreams sometimes." He paused for a little bit, debating whether he should say more. Asuna didn't seem keen on saying anything. He glanced back at her and saw the look of concern she was suddenly affording him. "I just wonder what I could have done differently, that's all. I know I did everything I could. He refused my help. That doesn't mean it just goes away, you know?"

Asuna walked over and laid down next to him, laying on one side, propped up on her right arm so she could look down at him. "I understand. It's hard letting go. It's hard to realize there's really nothing you could have done," she told him, though her mind was starting to drift back to that scene on the edge of the Town of Beginnings. Could she have done anything differently? Could she have tried to grab her before she fell? She knew now how fast she was compared to most people, but it had never occurred to her then. Kirito had to be asking himself similar questions.

She picked herself up off the ground and scooted over to sit next to the wall, patting the wall next to her, inviting him to do the same. There was no point in dwelling on all this death. Once he'd obliged and was seated next to her, she leaned back, her gaze shifted back towards the river in front of them. "You did what you could," she partly told her friend, partly tried to convince herself. "Isn't it supposed to be winter?" She asked, abruptly changing the topic.

Kirito gave a half-smile at the suddenness of her comment. "Maybe this is as close as Aincrad gets to having a tropical island."

"I suppose. It just feels weird after spending so much time in Christmasland and Troust," she responded. "It's a nice change of pace, either way." The whole area was refreshing. They'd spent too long bundled up to fight off the cold. A little warmth was nice. The two sat there for a time, a comfortable silence falling over them.

It was Kirito who broke the spell. "You know, I don't think I've spent this much time outdoors in my entire life," he confessed as he turned his eyes away from the water and towards the girl he was sitting next to.

Asuna wasn't quite sure how to respond. The real world was quickly becoming less and less taboo for the three of them to talk about, ever since Sinon's break down, but it still took her off guard. After a few moments, she formed a response. "What did you do inside all the time?"

Kirito shrugged. "I did some Kendo when I was younger, but after I quit I never really had much reason to go outside. I spent most of my time playing video games or surfing the internet."

"You did Kendo?" Asuna asked, surprise showing in her voice.

"Does that surprise you?" he asked, his tone even.

"A little, yeah. You don't exactly fight like you've been trained," Asuna responded, shifting slightly to look at the boy next to her instead of the river. "Don't get me wrong, you're great, and there's no one I'd rather have next to me in a fight, but you fight like a wild animal."

Kirito chuckled at her honesty. "Yeah, well, I haven't done it in years. It was fun while it lasted, though." Actually, he'd been pretty surprised when he started this game at just how little those two years worth of muscle memory had influenced how he fought. It probably had to do with the weight of his preferred weapons. They were just a lot heavier than what was used in Kendo. "What about you? You almost look like a professional fencer out there."

Asuna shook her head, and Kirito hoped she didn't notice him watching how her hair danced around her head with the movement. "Not at all. I'd never touched a sword before I started playing this game. I just thought that rapiers were cool. The rest just came naturally. The game just comes pretty easy to me, I guess."

Kirito chuckled at her. "Well, now, someone's pretty sure of themselves. When we met, you didn't even know how parties worked."

"Yeah, yeah, just keep talking, see where that gets you," she mock threatened him. She didn't notice that it was one of the first times she'd actually engaged in much of the verbal sparring that Kirito and Sinon engaged in so often. "What made you quit Kendo?" she asked him, opting to turn the conversation back away from petty bickering.

Asuna worried for a moment when Kirito hesitated. Pieces of his childhood flashed through his mind. His uncle, his grandfather. The knowledge that he'd never really gotten to know his parents. He thought he'd dealt with these things when he was back in the cell. He shook his head, clearing it slightly. He should have known better than to think that things would go away that easily. "My grandfather teaches it. My family and I don't really get along anymore, so I didn't want to keep going. My grandfather beat me for it, but he seemed to let it go afterward. I think my uncle asked him to. They both kept going on about how ungrateful I was being."

Asuna sat there for a moment in stunned silence, taken aback by the bluntness of his explanation. She'd never suspected that he'd been abused. "He beat you? And you're okay with this? What about your parents? What'd they say about it?"

He let out a mirthless laugh in response. He was looking her in the eye now, making a point to hold her gaze. He didn't seem angry or hurt. "I don't have any parents, Asuna. They died in an accident while I was little. As long as I can remember, I've lived with my aunt and uncle. I quit Kendo. . . I don't know. I don't like my uncle. We don't get along. When I discovered that I liked computers more than Kendo, I wanted to move on. He take kindly to that. There's a lot of things I do that he doesn't take kindly to. No one's ever really told me why." His voice wasn't breaking, but Asuna could hear something in his tone. Isolation? Did he feel lost? Confusion? She couldn't quite place it, but she recognized it.

Asuna wordlessly slid a little closer to him and put one arm around him, her gaze turning back to the river in front of them. She wasn't sure what else to do. Her friends were both broken people. She wasn't sure she could do much to help, but she'd try. It was the least she could do. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize," she told him.

Kirito gave her a weak smile. His mind was still on his sister, his regrets about his life. He suddenly found himself remembering why he'd turned to video games in the first place. These games were his escape. In some, weird, twisted way, Sword Art Online still was. Everyone here had to deal with new, life or death situations, but the stress of the real world was gone. He allowed himself to relax into the girl's grip. Here, they were all becoming different people. They had a chance to be the people they wanted to be, not the people they were told they had to be. They had the chance to grow and evolve. And they had the chance to escape everything that had held them back in the real world.

He joined her in looking out on the river for a time, allowing himself to get lost in the natural beauty of this artificial place. Eventually, he turned his gaze away from the river and towards the girl who was holding him. He studied her for a moment as she gazed out into the water. Her expression was soft, nothing like the fearsome beauty he'd seen on floor one. But it suited her just the same. He turned his head back to the water and found himself almost able to put into words what he hadn't been able to say back then. "There are some truly beautiful things in this game." Almost.

* * *

 **January 4, 2023**

 **2nd Floor**

 **Online Users: 7,939**

Argo disliked meeting in the same spot consecutively, if at all, so Sinon was back in familiar land of Troust. She found it interesting how quickly the three of them had come to think of the whole floor by that name. It was the only place on the floor that they really felt safe, strangely enough. It was also the only place they really bothered coming back down to that frigid mountain range to visit. Sinon had recieved the message from Argo the day before, asking to meet up. Sinon found it unlikely that Argo would have as much information as she was hoping to get, but she'd learned long ago never to doubt the Rat.

Sinon was waiting on the outskirts of town, away from prying eyes. This floor was easily the least popular of the ones unlocked so far. Most players preferred the forests of floor three, the security of floor one, or the veritable oasis of floor four. Turned out no one really wanted to spend winter up on a mountain. Sinon let her left hand fall to her side, her fingers running across the rim of her chakram. She'd been testing setups with it, and found that keeping it on that side was just a little faster, since she didn't have to reach across her body. It had been easier to use the thing than she'd expected. Since it was ranged weapon, in the same style as throwing knives, it didn't disable her ability to use sword skills with her knife. She'd also found out, to her relief, that every successful sword skill executed with the chakram returned the weapon to her as part of its completion. She still had her throwing knives, but it would be nice to not have to buy them nearly as often.

Argo made her way silently to Sinon's side. She cleared her throat, then managed to stifle a laugh as Sinon jumped slightly. Argo just smiled as the other girl glared at her. Sinon bit her tongue before she said anything stupid in response, knowing that she needed all of her self control for any discussion with Argo. Not giving away information for free was hard enough to begin with. Which, of course, was exactly why Argo had done it. That, and maybe a bit of playfulness.

"So, what did you find?" Sinon asked once she'd regained her composure.

"I found plenty on Kibaou. He's alive and controversial. Easy. Diabel's been a bit harder. I'll have to get back to you on that one," Argo told her as she opened a window and punched in a value.

Sinon scoffed as the offer popped up in front of her. "You know I don't pay until I know what I'm getting. We've been doing business that way for months."

"I thought you might want to pay up front," the nasal voice returned. "The price might just go up if you wait until I'm done talking."

Sinon laughed good-naturedly. "Come on, we both know you'd just charge me again at the end."

Argo shrugged. "Yeah, but you might feel better not spending at all at once."

"I'll take my chances, but thanks. Data first," Sinon insisted. "You know I'm good for it."

Argo pretended to pout for a moment, then shrugged it off. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Do what you like. Now, this Kibaou guy is a piece of work. He didn't like beta testers from the beginning, but it looks like he really lost it after the first floor boss fight. After you guys got him bounced from the ALF, he tried to sign on with a few other guilds. He never stuck long. The moment people found out what he was, they had to get rid of him. Anyone who wants Guildpact protection can't keep him. Unfortunately, he's got a bit of a following across a few guilds. They fancy themselves some sort of underground movement called the Balance Initiative. If you want to know more about them, it'll cost you. Also of note is the fact that he's starting to get buddy-buddy with Lind."

Sinon remembered hearing something about. What was the leader of the Dragon Knights Brigade doing with someone like Kibaou? Yes, he wasn't known for being the nicest of players, but it seemed odd that he'd be taken in by Kibaou's rhetoric. "Is that all?" Sinon asked. It didn't give her too much about his personality, but raw factual data was more important when she and her friends were no doubt being actively hunted. Kibaou didn't seem like the type to give up.

Argo retracted the trade off she'd made and began creating a new one. Information on Lind would be extra. "I think Kibaou's trying to put together a guild of his own. You guys need to watch out. He's doing everything he can to send trouble your way, and if you guys get killed, I can't get paid." She punched in a new figure and sent a second offer.

"Aw, and for a moment there I thought you really cared." Sinon replied. "Alright. A down payment for information on Lind. And keep an eye on Kibaou. Anything of note that you find, I'll pay for. But only if it's actually of note." Sinon accepted the new trade now, rather than later. She knew Argo would charge for his lunch habits if she could. And that might be useful one day, but certainly not now. This wasn't going to let her do too terribly much yet, but Sinon was grateful to have some sort of warning about Lind. "Don't forget about Diabel, either. There's something there, I'm sure of it."

Argo gave her the same smile she'd given when she scared the taller girl. She slunk off wordlessly, leaving Sinon alone with her thoughts. Sinon's hand dropped back to the chakram at her side, feeling the coolness of the metal against her fingers. What did people see in him? Kibaou just kept making friends.

* * *

 **January 4, 2023**

 **1st Floor**

 **Online Users: 7,939**

Sinon had one more thing to do before she met up with Kirito and Asuna back on the fourth floor. She picked her way through the streets of the Town of Beginnings until she what she was looking for. She'd had to ask Asuna where it was, since she certainly wasn't going to pay Argo for the location of a shop. She glanced up at the sign above the door, just to make sure she was in the right place. "Ishikawa's Emporium", the sign proclaimed in large letters.

She slipped inside and immediately hid behind one of the shelves. She recognized the two ALF soldiers at the counter. They seemed to be finishing a purchase, based on Agil's body language. Sinon found herself wracking her brain. Just where had she seen ALF soldiers that would cause her to panic. She may not know Thinker very well, but he'd stood up for them against Kibaou when everything had been on the line. Then it clicked. _No way. . ._

"Nice doing business with you. Come back anytime!" Agil called to the men from behind the counter as they left. They didn't say anything in response, they just shuffled out. "You can come out now," Agil called out. Sinon was pretty sure he was talking to her.

She emerged from behind the shelf once she was sure there were no other customers, or at least no other customers that she recognized. "Were those. . ." she began to ask, trailing off. She couldn't even make herself finish the sentence.

"Yeah, those were the guards from the Black Iron Palace. Agil busted them back to grunt work, so now they're out running escort for lower level players who need to grind safely. They've been getting their stuff here ever since the incident."

"So. . . you're saying that advertising this place while you're literally _throwing_ them and their stuff across the room. . . worked?" She was still dumbfounded by the whole thing.

"Yep. Genius marketing move, if I do say so myself," Agil told her. "Apparently I broke their swords when I threw them." He shrugged. "They were junk anyway."

Sinon just shook her head in disbelief. "Whatever works," was all she could muster.

"You here to pick up some gear? You're a bit higher leveled than a lot of our customers, and your needs are a bit different, but I'm sure we can find something," Agil offered.

Sinon shook her head. "Nah, not today. I actually came by because I wanted to talk about what happened back in the Prison."

"You mean at the end there?" Agil asked, remembering the girl's trembling, her being almost unable to stand. It had hurt watching a kid in that state. No one deserved to go through that much trauma in their life, especially not at that age. No one had even hit her, she'd just poured out everything she had in defense of her friends. "You don't owe anyone any explanations."

Sinon blinked. She knew she'd said more than a few things that should have at least drawn questions. She'd talked about knowing how it felt to live with the burden of being a murderer, of knowing what it felt like to take a life. At least, she thought she had. Her memory was a bit foggy on that part of the event. She'd just kind of lost it. "You sure?" she asked, still approaching the counter.

"Yeah. You did what you needed to do to protect your friends. Whatever may have happened before that, before you got into this game, doesn't really matter. I'd just watched you do everything you could to protect people you cared about. No shame in that." He started around the counter. There were no other customers here, and NPC customers didn't show up unless a shop had been inactive for at least half an hour.

"Well, I just wanted to say thanks," she told him. "For helping me through it at the end. It was more than I deserved."

"We all deserve a little help every once in a while. It was nothing. I'm here whenever you guys need me," he told the girl.

"I. . ." Sinon began, her voice breaking. "I. . . Thank you," she finally told the man as she made her way over to hug him. Sometimes, she forgot she had more than two friends in the world. Agil had always defended them. She wondered what a man with as kind a heart as what she'd seen from him had done to end up in a game like this. Same thing as anyone else. He'd gotten unlucky.

Agil put one massive arm around the girl and let her cry for a time. He shook his head. Whatever this girl gone through, it wasn't just Kibaou's words that had done this to her. Whatever had made her like this, she deserved better. The fact that Kibaou was willing to pick on people who were already in this position just sickened him. He'd wanted nothing more than to throw Kibaou into Kirito's cell and be done with it, but that hadn't been his call to make. Much as Kirito's argument made sense, Agil didn't agree. Even if it might cause problems, at some point, criminals have to be punished. And that was the most charitable word Agil could think of for a man like Kibaou.

"You feeling better, kiddo?" Agil asked as Sinon dried her eyes.

She nodded. "Yeah. I think so." She didn't even bristle at being called kiddo. After all the names that had been used to mock her, almost anything friendly was fair play.

"I'm here whenever you need me, and so are your other friends. Doesn't matter who you used to be. We're here for who you are now," Agil told her.

She nodded. "Yeah. Thanks old man," she told him, returning the favor.

Agil just smiled at her. He knew how it felt to be isolated. Being a black man in Japan had its downsides. "You need anything else?"

Sinon broke away from the man and shook her head. "Nah. I guess I better run along home now. Don't want to embarrass you in front of your boss."

"You get old enough, that kind of thing stops bothering you. If you need me, let me know, alright?" When she nodded her consent, he smiled at her. "Alright, then you run along home. I'll see you guys at the boss raid for the next floor."

"Alright. See you later, old man," Sinon told him as she made her way out the door. As she picked her way through the streets, she found herself doing something she was doing more and more of lately. She was smiling.

* * *

 **January 12, 2023**

 **4th Floor**

 **Online Users: 7,908**

The humidity of the fourth floor presented a completely different challenge from the dryness of the first three floors. Asuna had elected to forego her cloak, leaving her with white top and red pants, the white a stark contrast to the greens and blues that prevailed around them. Kirito was wearing his normal coat, which, while uncomfortable, he said he'd become too accustomed to wearing to leave home. Sinon similar kept her jacket on, its bonuses too useful to pass up. Besides, it was always nice to be able to conceal where her throwing knives were, and she carried a few.

Kirito pulled his sword out of the skull of an alligator, one of the stock monsters they'd become accustomed to mowing down on this floor. The monster dissolved into pixels moments later. The monsters in the area seemed almost too easy, but then again, the trio was well above the average clearer's level. They just spent a lot more time around enemies, given their tendency to avoid the cities. Kirito and Sinon had some idea of how to navigate the area, having been here before during the beta, but no beta tester trusted their old knowledge after the debacle against Illfang. The river was narrowing as they entered the base of a canyon. The water seemed to be filled with shadows. The three of them had an uneasy feeling that there were creatures down there, following them. Luckily, the things didn't seem to have any interest in leaving the water. Technically, they could have gone into the water to fight the creatures, since any player who could swim in real life could swim in SAO, but it was never a good idea to try to fight aquatic monsters in their native habitat. That tactic had caused an unfortunate spike in casualties lately.

Asuna was the first to notice the sound of clanking metal coming from up ahead of them. Sinon and Kirito picked up on it shortly after. They hadn't run into any armored enemies on this floor. That meant it was most likely one thing: more players. They stopped in their tracks. It was extremely rare for unrelated parties to run into each other on Aincrad. The number of players actively scouring the floors was actually rather small compared to the total population, and the floors themselves were huge. The only place that ever maintained a consistently high concentration of players outside of the towns were the dungeons, and the three of them were taking the day off from clearing.

The cacophony of metal began to coalesce into the sound of footfalls at it grew closer. The three were soon able to make out the shapes of the people ahead. Sinon was able to pick out faces well before her friends were. Six players, one full party, all of them dressed in silver armor with draconic stylizations to them. The weapons they carried varied from man to man, but each seemed well armed. It was the Dragon Knights Brigade. This was not what the trio needed. The DKB were quickly gaining a reputation for being dirty, and Argo's warning was blaring Sinon's head. The DKB didn't necessarily kill other players, but they saw to it that their members were best equipped, regardless of how that had to be done. Having people like that affiliated with Kibaou, while sadly predictable wasn't a good sign.

The lead knight looked remarkably like Diabel, though his features were more gaunt. His face wasn't as kind as Diabel's. His hair seemed grungier. Lind. The six soldiers were growing closer, now. They seemed to have noticed the Kirito and the girls, as any absent chatter that had been going on between them suddenly stopped and their leader's posture became rigid.

Kirito's nightmares began to flash before his eyes. Diabel fragmenting into pixels over and over again. Sometimes his eyes were hopeful. Sometimes his eyes were convicting. Sometimes they were accusing. He tensed for a moment, then felt a hand on his shoulder. Asuna must have picked up on his response. He relaxed, if only a little, at the touch.

"Well, if it isn't the Beat Squad," Lind announced, his group still walking towards them. Kirito, Sinon, and Asuna looked around at one another before realizing Lind was, in fact, addressing them. "You're a little late. We've already cleared out this area. Surprised you're just now getting around to it. I guess you've already hit the all the better areas, right? You're just here for the leftovers."

"I have no idea what you're talking about. We were just exploring the area." Kirito responded for the group. They were all on edge. Kirito because of the newcomer's uncanny resemblance to one of the few good men Kirito had had the pleasure of meeting in this game, and Asuna and Sinon because of their independent knowledge of Lind's affiliation with Kibaou.

"Right." Lind responded, his voice thick with sarcasm. "Just like beta testers share everything they know. Sure. We know better." The two groups had converged, Lind and his five men now barring the smaller group's path. "You like to take first pick of everything. Don't think we haven't noticed just because we're new to the game. We're not stupid. We've seen what your kind do. I'm going to protect my people, same way you look out for yours. This is a Brigade training ground now. You better not be here when we get back."

"What on earth are you talking about?" Kirito demanded. He was sick of the beta testers being an acceptable target. He was sick of it being okay to demean them as human beings. And, most of all, even though he'd just met the man, he was already tired of him disgracing Diabel's memory by stealing his look and turning around and treating people like this.

"I know that you chose not to tell the floor one clearers about Illfang's real secondary weapon. I don't pretend to be able to understand what would motivate you to sabotage your fellow players, but I suppose greed will do that to you. I know Argo didn't bother listing some of the more lucrative quests and farming areas. At least she wears her greed on her sleeve. She doesn't bother pretending to act for the greater good."

"We never withheld anything. How many times do I have to-" Kirito began. He felt like this was the third time he'd had to defend beta testers as not being complete monsters. Why couldn't they have run into Agil or Heathcliff or Thinker? At least they treated beta testers like human beings.

"I have better things to do than stand here and argue against your lies. I have things to attend to. I'm doing everything I can to protect myself and my people. This is Brigade territory now, whether you like it or not. You'd do well to be gone before any more of us show up. I don't like your kind, but I know how to restrain myself. I can't make that promise for everyone else." With that, Lind's group marched off, leaving the trio almost at a loss for words.

Asuna put her other hand on Sinon's shoulder. The younger girl was beginning to shake again, and Asuna worried that they were going to have a repeat of what happened back in the Prison. Not that the man didn't deserve it, but it was one of the last things they needed right now.

Asuna was right. Sinon certainly wanted to chase after man and give him a piece of her mind, but she knew better. She took three very deep breaths to compose herself, then broke the silence. "The Beat Squad? Seriously? That's the best they could do? How many nicknames do we have now?"

Kirito and Asuna gave a half-hearted laugh in response. At least they knew Sinon was going to be okay. Now that the tension was broken, Kirito felt free to speak his mind. "What just happened? Why does everyone hate us? Why does he look like Diabel?" The second question didn't really need answering, but frustration extracted it from him anyway. Lind's attitude was as far from Diabel's as one could get, so why did he look like the man? Was he trying to mock his memory? That was the only explanation Kirito could come up with, uncharitable as it was.

"There's about seventy-nine hundred people in the game. I'm sure every once in a while two people just happen to dress the same without having ever met each other. It may be our world now, but it is still a video game, we get to wear plenty of things we don't get to wear in real life." Asuna offered, uncertainty showing on her face. She was reaching, and she knew it. Still, she couldn't assume the negative. Her friends needed her to help them through this, and complaining and insulting wasn't going to help.

Kirito didn't like the answer, but he didn't say anything. It was certainly possible, but it didn't feel like it fit. The appearance seemed too exact to be coincidence. Was Lind trying to be like Diabel? If he was, he was failing pretty badly.

"Looks like Kibaou's making new friends," Sinon stated. "Oh well, it just wouldn't feel right if we had relatively boring floor." Sinon didn't elaborate on how she knew. She didn't want to have to explain that she'd gone to Argo for information on Kibaou and Diabel. Mostly she worried about looking for information about the latter. Popular as Diabel was, he just never sat right with her. They didn't have time for that conversation. She doubted Lind had been lying about more soldiers coming. They didn't need to be fighting a guild right now, even if that guild was known for being dirty.

"Yeah, Agil told me the same thing. I guess I was just hoping that Lind hadn't fallen for it so completely," Asuna confirmed. It had slipped her mind at the time, given everything that had been going on, but now she remembered where she'd heard the name before.

Any further conversation was cut off when the three heard a trilling, almost singsong voice coming from behind them. "They don't like you very much." The three of them whirled around to find a scaled, blue girl half submerged in the river, her head cupped in her hands, looking at them with an almost childlike interest. She looked vaguely human, but her eyes were completely black, her head had something of a tail instead of hair, her ears were just recesses on the side of her head, and her hands were almost webbed. "Hello!" she waved enthusiastically at the three of them before putting her head back on her hands. She smiled, revealing rows of pointed teeth.

The three of them managed to wave weakly at the creature in response. This day was just getting weirder. It was Asuna who recovered first. She took a couple steps forward, tentatively approaching the creature. "Hello?" she practically asked the creature.

The creature tilted her head as it looked at Asuna, its expression almost quizzical. Her unnaturally large eyes narrowed to slits, as though she was trying to make something out. "You work for the goblins?" The creature asked, almost disappointed. Asuna would have thought its pouting was almost cute if she hadn't been so confused at its presence.

Asuna shook her head. "Their king seems to like us, yes, but we haven't done anything for them. We certainly don't work for them." Kirito and Sinon had recovered from their own shock somewhat and were now starting towards the pair. None of them had seen anything quite like the creature. "I'm Asuna," Asuna gestured to herself, then to her friends, "they're Kirito and Sinon. What's your name?"

The creature pursed her lipless mouth into what they assumed was a frown. "I'm Aquella. Momma told us you all might be coming. That was mean of them, sending you to meet mean people all alone like that."

Asuna shook her head. Nobody sent us here. Besides, I doubt the goblins know how unpopular we are," she told the little creature, instinctively trying to reassure her. "Who's your mother?"

The creature flashed the same toothy smile she'd given them before. "Come on, I'll show you!" she told them excitedly. She didn't wait for a response. She pushed herself off of the ledge she'd been leaning on, flipping over as she plunged into the water, revealing lithe, humanoid legs with webbed feet. She swam back down the path the group had followed into the cave. They glanced at each other. The quest hook was obvious. The three exchanged shrugs. Not like they had anything better to do. They started after her, running to make sure she didn't get too far ahead.

She led them down a particularly narrow tributary and into an aquatic cavern burrowed into the cliff face. The walkway was well hidden and it was narrow enough that they found that they needed to proceed single file or they'd have to swim. The chose to take the slow approach. As friendly as Aquella seemed, none of them wanted to chance jumping in the water.

The cavern eventually opened up, revealing a massive central room. It was filled with lily pads and other sorts of aquatic greenery, all of it far larger than it had any right to be. There were a number of creatures flitting around, attending to whatever business these creatures took part in. In the middle of the room there they could see what appeared to be this species's leader. A tall female, heavily adorned with shells and pearls. She flashed a smile as she saw them. Either that, or it was as a result of some comment made by one of her attendants. She made it clear that they were the target of her smile after all when she beckoned them to join her. Despite this, they chose to stay firmly on the walkway on the outskirts of the pond, unwilling to venture out into the water. The matronly creature lazily swam towards them, stopping only a yard or two away from the trio. She briefly turned her benign smile on their guide, who had, upon completing her job, taken to spinning a giggling as she swam. Asuna guessed she really was a child by this people's standards.

"Kurat said you'd be here," the creature began, her voice more authoritative, but with the same trilling quality as the younger one. "He said you'd been useful to him, and recommended you to me. I trust Aquella helped you here without too many detours."

"Are you Memoria?" Kirito asked, remembering the cryptic comment that Troust had left them with. The others seemed to be making the same connection as he said it.

The creature put one hand over her mouth as she began laughing. The laugh had a peculiar quality to it, almost as though it echoed with the sound of a bell chiming. "No, not quite. My name is Meltis. I'm the Queen-Mother of the Merfolk. I'm afraid I can't say that I know your names."

"They told me that the boy is named Kirito, the red one is named is Asuna, and the brown one's name is Sinon," Aquella suddenly interjected. She quieted, embarrassed, when Meltis looked at her. The look wasn't angry, but stern, despite the serenity remaining around the queen's eyes. The girl swam off, though not quite far enough that she fooled any of them into thinking she wasn't paying any attention. Meltis, at least, seemed satisfied with the response.

"I'm sorry. Some of the youngsters can be a bit impulsive. Still, she did well in bringing you here, and that will be remembered," Meltis resumed. "I'm afraid I need to ask the three of you a favor, much as the King in the Mountain needed to."

"Are you dealing with rebellions of your own?" Kirito asked, venturing a guess as to where this was going. He doubted things would be that simple, after all the apparent effort that had gone into the goblin area, but it never hurt to guess.

"No, no, nothing like that," she began, "though I'm afraid you will no doubt run into our more aggressive cousins. The tritons were never a part of us, regardless of what they claim. No, rebellion is the nightmare the goblins face. We have to deal with our own." She paused, giving the players a chance to speak, but they remained silent, attentive. "I offer you the same deal Kurat offered you. Your help, in exchange for whatever services we might be able to provide you."

"What do you need us to do?" Sinon asked. They tended to let Kirito do most of the talking when dealing with other guilds, but this didn't really qualify as that anymore, and Sinon had no intention of agreeing to anything without knowing exactly what she was getting into. Her friends didn't say anything, so she assumed they'd been thinking the same thing.

"The tritons have turned aggressive. There are some places that can barely hold against their assault. We need your help when you find them. But that's not all. There is a crown, the Pearl of Levias, that has been taken from us. The tritons attempted to steal it, but it was lost. We need that returned before the Tritons find it. It is our birthright. It is currently lost to the land. We don't know where it is now, only that it has left the water behind it."

"How do you know it's not at the bottom of the ocean?" Kirito asked.

Meltis gave him what he assumed was a bemused smile. He exactly couldn't tell, however, since he couldn't couldn't get past the rows of fanged teeth. It had been surprising, if not exactly frightening on the child. An adult was another matter altogether. "I'm the Queen-Mother of the oceanborn," the creature chided him. "We've done all we can do beneath the water. It is elsewhere."

He rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. He had to admit, he'd walked into that one. "Sorry. I'm still getting used to all of this," he apologized. "Yeah. We'd be happy to help you out, right?" He glanced to both sides and received a nod of agreement from both girls.

"Do you have any other questions for us?" The Queen-Mother asked them. When they said nothing, not because they didn't have questions, but because they were still having a hard time processing everything and figuring out exactly what questions they should be asking, Meltis continued. "If not, then I must apologize for calling you all the way out her for so little. My schools need my attention, but please, return whenever you wish. Our scalemail is unmatched."

* * *

The three were back in their hotel room, worn out from the long day. The three of them had begun to develop certain rituals with regards to inns. Much as they wanted to stay under the radar, they typically kept the same rooms throughout their stay on any given floor, for the sake of convenience. The girls' room was their headquarters. Kirito only ever went to his own room to sleep. They were currently in the girls' room, relaxing as best they could. Given how strange things had turned afterwards, they'd almost been able to forget their encounter with Lind. Almost.

"Do you think we're the only players getting these weird quests?" Asuna asked her friends. The group was still adjusting to the idea of such a massive, multi-floor mission. It wasn't that they'd been told for sure that the Pearl wasn't on this floor, but Asuna had her doubts. The setup had been too elaborate for that. It was too reminiscent of the goblins back on floor two.

"No idea. It certainly wasn't in the beta," Kirito responded from where he was laying on the bed. He was upside down, head hanging over the end of the bed, looking at the his two friends. "I don't really get what the point of it all is. I thought Sword Art Online was supposed to be done one floor at a time."

"You missing the point isn't unusual," Sinon commented. Kirito just stuck his tongue out at her from where he was lying. She ignored the bait, for the moment. "Maybe this is his way of building up some sort of story," she mused. "Still, you would think it would involve more than just us, if that were the case. I haven't heard anyone else talking about these quests, so I'd assume we're the only ones they're appearing to." She shook her head. "It just doesn't make any sense."

"The man has killed thousands of people by booby-trapping one of the most anticipated games of all time. What about him makes sense?" Kirito asked bitterly. The other two didn't respond. They weren't used to Kirito turning bitter. He'd been the only one level-headed enough not to ask for Kibaou's imprisonment. Asuna just put her hand on his arm, hoping it would help calm him.

Kirito sighed. "Sorry. Nothing personal, Sinon, I just can't stand the thought of that guy."

Sinon nodded. "I understand. It's my bad. I was just thinking outloud."

Asuna decided it was time to redirect the conversation. She removed her hand from Kirito's arm and asked, "Do you guys think we should go to the next boss meeting? I don't think anyone else but Agil has been to all of them so far, and it seems like we aren't really wanted." Asuna's mind was drifting back to the confrontation they'd had earlier today. Lind didn't stir the same primal hate in her that Kibaou did, but he was certainly headed down that path.

"We'll be there," Kirito stated. "Sinon and I didn't miss one in the beta and we haven't missed one here. We'll be there."

"Besides, if we bow to people like Kibaou and Lind, it's just going to get a lot more people killed. Heathcliff calls us the finishers during those meetings for a reason. You and Kirito adjust the fastest to new attack patterns and are two of the best swordsmen in the game, and I'm the only person who's ever hit one with a status effect that stuck. If we don't go, we'll be validating what they're saying. We're telling them that we care, and that they matter. We win be living our lives. We keep going. We ignore them. We beat them by finishing bosses. If they cause issues, that's on them. People may not like us, but they do respect us. Why else would we have picked up four different nicknames?" Sinon asserted, as much as the names annoyed her. They were the Black Swordsman, the Flash, and Bullseye. They were the Beat Squad. It didn't matter if they _liked_ the names or not, they'd been given to them for a reason. They'd earned them. They weren't going to walk away now.

Besides. She'd made a promise. She kept her promises.

* * *

 **A/N:** Alright, I've definitely found my versions of Sinon and Asuna, and I'm happy with my Klein and Agil, but Kirito has been a little harder this time around, but I think this chapter went a good ways towards getting him back on track. Thoughts?

And yeah, finally a real Asuto moment.

So, now that we're almost caught up, what do you guys think? For those that read the first one, were the changes all for the better? For everyone who didn't, what do you think of it so far?

I'll be starting to introduce a couple of OC's sometime soon. Have to replace Asuna with someone in the Knights of the Blood Oath, right?


	8. Interlude 1 - The Real World

**A/N:** For those of you who weren't here last time around, it's time for something completely different. For those who were here, don't worry, I've added a bit to it.

Good news and bad news. Good news is, here's a new chapter. Bad news is, it's not a complete chapter. I've had almost no during the holidays to really get this chapter ironed out, so here's what I have so far. Another section, either of about this length or a little shorter, will be posted after Christmas, and will likely be combined with this after a week or so.

Keravw, in response to your question, yes, we'll be seeing Lis and Silica. Just might take a while to get there.

Also, I just finished watching Mother's Rosario, so there's a ton of new ideas to work with there. In my opinion, it was the best written arc in the anime. Great stuff.

* * *

 **November 6, 2022**

 **Kawagoe City, Saitama Prefecture**

Suguha hesitated in as she came to Kazuto's door. Why did she always do this to herself? She already knew what was going to happen. Why even bother? She sighed, and shook her head. No, she at least needed to make the effort. "I'm going to practice now. See you later, okay?" She waited for a few moments, hoping against hope that he say something, anything. In her wildest dreams he might even ask to come with her, but she'd be happy just to see him for a moment. He didn't. She made her way out the door, only slightly disappointed. They never hung out anymore. Except for dinner, the only time she ever got to see him was when she asked him for help with her math homework. She gave a slight laugh at her own expense on her way out the door. Kazuto must have thought she was a complete idiot at math, given the frequency with which she asked for help. The truth was, she never needed it. She just needed her big brother.

Her thoughts focused on her brother almost every time she took the trip to the dojo. She'd been hoping for years that he'd re-enroll, that they'd have something that was theirs, that they'd be able to do things together again. That was why she always tarried just a moment or two extra outside his door. Somehow, she always managed to get her hopes up. She still didn't get it. Why didn't he talk to her? Why did he drop Kendo? He'd loved it. They both had. That was okay though. Those question drove her to push herself that much harder. If he wasn't here, then she'd have to be good enough for both of them.

She arrived at the dojo ten minutes early, giving herself plenty of time to clear her head and get changed before class started. Not that she was ever successful in clearing her head, but it always helped. The class itself would chase away any other stray thoughts. There wasn't room for distraction out on the floor.

Suguha couldn't tell if her grandfather was in a very good mood or very bad mood, but it had to be one of the two extremes. He worked his students like dogs that night. Suguha found herself only barely able to keep up. She'd known it was going to be hard when she graduated from Kyu to first Dan, though. She'd been practicing for years, yes, but she'd only turned thirteen five months ago. It didn't matter how much training she'd had, the physical demands of the adult classes were completely new to her. She was doing her best to keep up with people in their twenties. She was just happy that she was starting to catch up.

Much as she embraced the challenge, she was glad for the class to finally be over. She was breathing heavily as she leaned against the wall and pulled off her pads. She always enjoyed this part. Maybe it wasn't girly, but there was a sense of accomplishment to the leftover burn in her muscles. She'd been doing this for so long, the sweat barely even bothered her anymore.

Once she'd peeled off her outer pads, she made her way back to the locker room to change back into her regular clothes. She didn't wait around to talk to her grandfather before she left. He was busy, and her mind was on other things. The grind of the class took a lot out of her, and her mind tended to wander once she'd finished. Tonight, however, it was still focused on the same questions as before. Why _had_ Kazuto quit? She said a quick goodbye to her grandfather as she left, racing outside to where she'd left her bike tied up.

She knew she should consider herself lucky to be able to see her grandfather as often as she did, but it was hard sometimes. Sometimes she felt like the student-teacher relationship had begun to supersede their familial relationship. It was nice to be able to see him so regularly, but it was all business. It was becoming harder and harder to just be a kid around him. Especially since Kazuto had left.

It all came back to that, didn't it? She sighed. She was almost home. She was glad for the bike rides, glad for the time alone with her thoughts, but sometimes this sort of thing happened. Sometimes she'd find herself thinking about her friends at school, sometimes about her plans for the future, and sometimes, unfortunately, she found herself wondering wistfully what it would be like for her to be closer to her family. Still, the ride itself was refreshing, if a bit slow. The ride back almost always took a bit longer than the ride there. If it didn't, she hadn't pushed herself hard enough, and she always made sure to push that much harder the next time she was in class. It was a cool night, and she enjoyed the gentle breeze on her face. It was refreshing after the intensity of her earlier activity.

She hopped off her bike as she arrived at their front gate and gingerly walked it back into storage. Her legs were going to absolutely hate her in the morning. She kicked off her shoes as she slipped in the front door, then started towards the stairs, ready to take a shower. Her mom and dad were in the living room, watching some program or another. Whatever it was must have been captivating, since neither of the two even acknowledged her arrival. It wasn't until she crossed behind them that she saw that they were watching the news. She thought nothing of it, and continued towards the stairs until a familiar phrase caught her attention.

" _. . . Sword Art Online. . ."_

Suguha stopped, recognizing that as the name of the game Kazuto had been playing so much of lately. She'd overheard him talking to mom about signing up to play the beta version of the game. She'd actually had to look up what that meant. It was pretty obvious, in hindsight. She walked back down the stairs and poked her head into the living room. She hadn't heard the rest of the sentence, just that particular phrase, so she really had no idea what was going on. Still, it might give her something to try and start a conversation with, sometime.

" _If you have a loved one logged into Sword Art Online, please, we urge you, do not touch the Nervegear device they are wearing. We already have reports of upwards of fifty casualties coming from across Japan…"_

Suguha's face scrunched up in confusion at the statement. Casualties? What kind of video game had casualties? That didn't even make sense. She looked at her parents, hoping they'd be just as disbelieving as she was. She could only make out some of their faces from this angle, but their body language and the solemnity of their expression told her they were taking this completely seriously. Dad seemed to be holding back anger. Mom seemed to be holding back tears. What had she missed?

Suguha slowly walked towards them, her fear evident in her gait. "Mommy? Daddy? What's going on?" She managed to voice as she came to a stop a few feet away from them.

Her parents both turned to look at her, as if they'd suddenly remembered she existed. Her mom stood and walked over to her, taking her youngest into her arms. "It's going to be alright, Sugu," Midori reassured her daughter as she ran a hand through Suguha's hair. "Kazuto's in trouble, but he's going to be alright."

"What's wrong with him? What do they mean, 'casualties'? Kazu's just playing a game, right?" Suguha asked, looking up at her mother with desperation showing in her eyes. Her voice was filled with fear. It sounded small even to her own ears. Something had happened to Kazuto. She suddenly wished she'd said more to him before she'd left for practice. She wished she'd made a habit of saying a lot of things she didn't say enough. Yes, they didn't always get along. Yes, he didn't make much of an effort to spend time around her. He was still her big brother. He still took care of her when she needed help. He had to be okay. He had to. They were supposed to be there for each other.

Midori continued to stroke her daughter's hair as she cradled the girl. "We don't know sweetie," she began. That was a hard admission for a parent. It was hard to let your children see that you didn't have all the answers. "We're doing our best to find out." She paused, looking over at Minetaka. He used his eyes to point up towards Suguha's room. Midori gave an almost imperceptible nod in response. "Mommy and Daddy are doing the best they can, sweetheart. We're going to take care of Kazuto, alright? Come on, let's get you to bed. We'll explain things in the morning, alright?" She slowly released her daughter from her embrace, but put one hand on her shoulder as she walked her up the stairs. Midori didn't know what to say. She wasn't sure there was anything to say. There were no words to take away the pain of losing a sibling. Or even the threat of losing a sibling. She knew that. She remembered it. There was no way she'd ever forget that night, fourteen years ago. She'd sworn to protect Kazuto, to raise him as her own, because her sister deserved that. Now he was trapped, and she was absolutely powerless to help him. Just like she'd been powerless to help her sister.

She was fighting back tears as she guided Suguha to her room. She couldn't cry. Not yet. It would make Suguha draw incorrect conclusions. Horrifying conclusions. "Mommy?" Suguha's timid voice cut through her thoughts. "Can we check on Kazuto? Please?"

"Sure, sweetheart," Midori said as she took the two of them down to Kazuto's room. She didn't know what she'd find. She and Minetaka had been too worried that they might do something to hurt him, especially once they'd found out what would happen if they tried to turn the game off. She'd been at work when she'd found out what was going on. One of her coworkers, a friend who she'd told that Kazuto was testing Sword Art Online, had sent her a text telling her the news. She'd had to check online, just to make sure. It was impossible to believe, but it was all over the internet. Social media was ablaze with it. She'd come home as soon as she'd been able.

She slowly opened the door to Kazuto's room, flicking on the lights, but keeping one hand firmly on Suguha's shoulder. Kazuto was there, lying on the bed, the Nervegear covering his face. He was almost completely still. He looked helpless. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the rise and fall of his chest with each breath he took. She was lucky Suguha was too busy to notice. "See? He's alright. Now, come on sweetie. Time for bed." As she guided Suguha the short distance from one child's room to the other, she wracked her brain trying to figure out how to deal with all this. There were suddenly ten thousand souls locked in a fight for their lives, trapped in a video game. How was any parent supposed to deal with that?

To say that Suguha slept poorly that night would be an understatement. She slept fitfully, frequently waking up, awash in a cold sweat. She felt helpless. She stood up, needing a moment or two away from her soaked sheets, and glanced at her clock. Three in the morning. Great. She sighed and shook her head. She had school in just a few hours, and there was no way she was going to be rested for it. She peeled off her pajamas and changed into fresh ones, grateful to be rid of the wet clothes. Her bed was soaked, she wasn't sleeping anyway, and she'd needed a shower before bed. She definitely needed one now. There was no way she was going to get to sleep anytime soon.

She started down the hall, gently closing the door behind her in the hopes that she might not disturb her mom or dad. She didn't make it all the way to shower, though. She couldn't help herself. She stopped in front of Kazuto's room, the same way she did before every Kendo class she attended. Those scenes replayed themselves in her mind. Why hadn't she done more? If she'd pushed harder to be his friend, would it have mattered? If she'd tried to play one of his games with him, even if it held no interest to her, would that have helped?

She opened the door slowly, cautiously, as if half expecting someone to jump out at her the moment she opened it. Nothing happened. She found Kazuto lying on his bed in the exact same position he'd been in when her mom had brought her in earlier. She sat down on the edge of his bed, taking one of his hands, for her own comfort as much as his. His hands were warm. It seemed strange to her that she took such notice of it, but it reassured her. She didn't know what to say. Not that he would hear it. She knew enough about the game to know that much. Whenever Kazuto had been late to dinner while he was playing the game, Daddy had sent her up to get him. He'd told her to just unplug the game instead of trying to talk to him. She'd tried the nicer approach at first, against her father's wishes, but she'd quickly found Daddy to be right. Still, even if Kazuto couldn't hear her, that didn't mean that she didn't feel like she needed to say something.

"Come back, Kazu. Please. . . please come back. Please be alright. . ." her words trailed off. She was fighting back tears now. She wasn't thinking straight. She couldn't form words properly. She just gave up on it. She'd said what needed saying. The tears were starting to flow freely now. Seeing him here, lying helpless, was just too much for her. Suddenly, it was all real to her. She slid off the bed, knelt down next to him, and rested her head on his chest.

When she finally picked her head up again, she had no idea how much time had passed. She wasn't even sure if this was real. The certainty she'd felt earlier had been replaced by confusion and denial. Her thoughts were suddenly disjointed, only forming in fragments. How could a video game cause all of this? Why couldn't he move? Part of her was sure that this was a dream, and that she'd wake up in the morning to find this had all been some twisted nightmare. Her hand started towards the device sitting on his head, but she remembered what had been said on the news. Touching it was too risky. She shook her head in frustration. What was she supposed to do? She just wanted to help. She just wanted her brother back. Was that so much to ask?

She wiped her eyes and turned to walk away from him. She couldn't bear the sight of him anymore. Any hopes she had, any notion that maybe this wasn't real, fell apart against the hard reality of his still frame. It was hard, but she tore her eyes away from him. As she walked towards the shower, she hoped against hope that she would wake up soon, that it would be morning, and everything would be normal. She'd tell Kazuto about her nightmare, and he'd tease her for worrying too much. Yes. That would be nice.

She lost herself in the relaxation of the warm shower. Her muscles were grateful for the soothing cascade, and she let her mind drift away from the misery and uncertainty of the night. She let herself think through her swordplay. Cross-examining the details of her form gave her something, anything to think about that wasn't what she'd been fixated on all night. When she'd finished, she made her way back to bed and let herself collapse into it, too tired to be bothered by the still wet area that she'd soaked earlier. She was too drained to care. She finally slept soundly, lacking the energy to worry even in her dreams.

* * *

 **November 7, 2022**

 **Kawagoe City, Saitama Prefecture**

 **SAO Survivors: 9,782**

Suguha awoke feeling as though she hadn't slept at all that night. She looked at her alarm clock, trying to make sure she hadn't overslept, but everything was fuzzy and out of focus. Her eyes were still adjusting to being awake. As her vision began to clear, the number she'd been hoping was a five didn't. It was still an eight. She bolted upright, panic cutting through her morning fugue. She was so, so late. There was no way her parents were going to let her hear the end of this. She'd missed all of her first class already and was probably well on her way to missing her second. She grabbed her school uniform and threw it on, only taking just enough time to make sure everything was buttoned up properly and on the right way. She'd have to try and pat things down on the way to school. For now, she could live with things being a little wrinkled. She bolted out of her room and down the stairs. She almost fell over herself when she skidded to a stop upon seeing her parents both sitting around the kitchen table, the news once more droning on in the background. That wasn't right. Mommy and Daddy were always at work by now. What was wrong?

Midori and Minetaka looked over at Suguha, having heard her running down the stairs. "School was canceled today. We thought it'd be nice for you to sleep in for once," Midori told her daughter, misunderstanding her look of confusion. Midori was grateful to have the time with just her family. It was going to be a long day. Japan was a big country, but there wasn't place in the world that ten thousand people wouldn't be missed. Midori was just glad she didn't have to deal with people today. She had enough problems as it was.

"Why did they cancel school?" Suguha asked even as the memories began trickling back. She remembered pieces of what had happened yesterday. Something on the news about Sword Art Online being dangerous. She remembered the word casualty, but not much else. She was actively trying to fight remembering anything else.

Midori's face fell at her little girl's comment. "Come here, Sugu," she told her daughter as she pulled out a chair for her. Suguha did as she was told, her expression darkening as everything started to come back to her. She couldn't keep it all at bay forever. Midori gulped before she began speaking, trying to decide how best to put things. She looked at Minetaka, whose eyes were now back on the television screen. She knew he was concerned, but she'd been hoping he'd be willing to have this conversation. As it stood, he was just hoping for something new, something helpful, to break. "Sword Art Online was a trap, Sugu. All ten thousand players are stuck in it," Midori finally spoke, deciding that it was probably best to put things bluntly. "Kazu's trapped. We have no idea what's going to happen to him. No one does."

The confusion was starting to melt away from Suguha's face. Despair and denial were quickly taking its place. She looked back and forth between her mom and her dad. Why hadn't daddy said anything? It wasn't until then that she actually registered the look his face. He was brooding. He cared, but he didn't want to be talked to. She'd seen it before. This really was happening, then. She shook her head vigorously, as if refusal to believe might make everything go away. "No! There's no way you can be trapped in a video game!" She stood up from the table and started towards her brother's room. "We'll just go unplug him. You'll see!"

"No!" Midori almost screamed as she caught her by the arm before she could take two steps. "No," she repeated, more calmly. "I'm sorry, but we can't." She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. She had to make it through this. She didn't pretend to understand everything that was going on, but she knew enough. She knew people were dying. She knew that she was going to do everything in her power to prevent that from happening to her nephew. "According to the news, if we turn it off, or if we try to pull the helmet off, it'll kill him." She paused for a moment, refusing to let her voice break during this. She could cry later, but Sugu deserved better than that right now. She took a deep breath before continuing. "They don't know exactly how many people have died yet, but the news says it's up to over a hundred people. We have. . . we have to let Kazu keep playing." It tore at her soul to say that. She'd sworn to her sister that she'd protect the boy, and now he was beyond her protection.

"How does that even work?" Suguha asked, hiding her desperation behind disbelief. "How does a video game kill someone?" Now, more than ever, she wished her brother had stuck with Kendo and never started playing those stupid games.

Midori just shook her head. It was the same question that she and Minetaka had asked the night before. "I'm sorry. They wouldn't say. We don't know how. We just know for sure that it does." She glanced at Minetaka. He hadn't moved an inch. He was completely lost in his own world. Midori knew it cut him just as deeply as it cut her. Maybe more so. She knew the two weren't on the best of terms. Minetaka had told her it bothered him, but he was a proud man. He didn't know what to do to reconcile. Now he may never get that chance. Each of them may have already had their last conversation with Kazuto. What tore at Midori most was that she couldn't even remember what it had been about.

* * *

 **November 9, 2022**

 **Kawagoe City, Saitama Prefecture**

 **SAO Survivors: 9,586**

Suguha was sitting next to her brother on his bed, pushing down on his Nervegear, making sure it didn't move as a medical technician injected Kazuto with something. This was the second day they'd done this. Mommy and Daddy told her not to worry, that it was for Kazuto's own good, but she didn't really understand why this had to be done here. "Why aren't you taking Kazu to the hospital?" she finally worked up the courage to ask.

The attendant said nothing at first, focusing on the syringe in his hand. He had to be very careful in making sure nothing went wrong. Even if he did this hundreds of times a day, he was never going to let himself go through the motions. Not with something this important. He finished the injection and carefully removed the needle from the boy's arm. As he began putting his tools away, he looked the little girl in the eyes and smiled. "We're doing the best we can. We just don't have enough room for everyone, not with people being brought in from all over Japan."

Suguha looked at him, still confused. "Why can't people go to hospitals in their own cities? Why can't Kazuto go to one here"

"We need to have everyone in one place, to look after them better. Besides, Tokyo's the only place that can support everyone. Small hospitals don't have enough room. Everyone deserves an equal shot to make it through this thing, right?" the young man asked as he finished packing up his equipment and slung his bag over his shoulder.

Suguha let the pressure off her brother's Nervegear and opened the door for the older man. "But shouldn't people closer to Tokyo get to go to the hospital first?"

"Why waste hospital rooms when we can bring the care to you?" The man asked, patting her on the head as he walked out of the room.

Suguha shook her head, letting her hair fall naturally after the man and messed it up. "I guess," she conceded. It still seemed strange that they prioritized people from out of town, but she figured it was something she'd understand better when she grew up. Right now, she just wanted to know that her brother was safe. So far, he was.

She led the man back down stairs to where her mom and dad were waiting. It had been nice spending time with them for the last few days, but she wished it had been under better circumstances. She hadn't been back to school since the sixth. Her parents didn't seem to have been in to work since then, either. She'd been grateful that her mom and dad had been understanding enough to keep her home. She'd hadn't given school a single thought since the incident. Except for each morning, when she panicked herself awake, though, luckily, not as badly as she had the first day.

Midori gave her daughter a proud smile as she saw Suguha and the medical technician coming down the stairs. The girl had been a trooper the whole time. She hadn't complained, hadn't done anything except try to help take care of her brother. Midori had been a little surprised at that. Suguha had every right to be bitter at Kazuto for the way he'd tried to alienate her. She showed no sign of that. Midori didn't think it would change anything at all if Suguha found out that Kazuto was her cousin, not her brother. The bond was strong enough.

Minetaka busied himself thanking the man for coming by. He hadn't learned the man's name yet, but he was sure he would, in time. The government was sending out doctors, nurses, whoever they could find, to the homes of the Tokyo victims and any victims within an hour or so of the capital. They probably had a similar system going all over the country. The injections they gave them would keep the players hydrated and keep them from starving. It seemed that that was the only help anyone could give them at this point. Minetaka had said very little in the past few days, and almost nothing of substance. It hurt him to see Kazuto like this. He may have been harsh on the boy, but he'd never done anything to him he wouldn't have done to his own natural born son. Maybe, when Kazuto came out of this, he'd be able to understand that.

* * *

 **November 10, 2022**

 **Tokyo, Japan**

 **SAO Survivors: 9,494**

Seijirou Kikuoka found himself sifting through piles upon piles of information. He'd been charged with heading up the SAO task force, which, right now, meant following up every possible lead he could. Right now, he was looking through the list of "high risk" SAO players, people who'd need to be in a more secure wing of whatever hospital they ended up in until the SAO Prolonged Care Facility came online, at which point they'd be moved into the VIP sector.

A few names stuck out to him as he read down the list.

 _Asada, Shino_. That name had required a bit of research on his part to understand why she'd been placed on the list. Once he'd started looking, though, he immediately understood what the issue was. It was a pity, all the hate she'd received for defending herself. She'd have to be placed in protective care just in case anyone who knew who she was decided she didn't deserve to escape the game. He shook his head in disgust. The depths some people would plumb just to kick people while they were down. It wasn't just her, there were a number of people who'd killed in self defense that would need extra vigilance. Much as he wished Japan had outgrown it, there were any number of people who would take it upon themselves to punish people, regardless of the truth of the situation. The girl was even luckier than most beta testers had been. If she hadn't been in the beta, there's a good chance they would never have found her. What kind of parent made a child live alone at that age?

. . .

 _Officer Inui, Kasumi_. It wasn't just her. There were twenty good men and women stuck in SAO because the police had wanted to nip any illicit activity that might crop up in the bud. Their fates were on him as much as they were on anyone else. Three of them had already been confirmed dead. Once this is all over, their identities would be revealed and they'd be given a hero's funeral. For now, their names had to blur into the pile with everyone else. It was a thankless job. Still, they'd known what they signed up for. They may not have expected it to come inside the game, but they'd signed up for police work. They were willing to lay down their lives to protect others.

. . .

 _Kayaba, Ayumu._ This one was going to be particularly delicate. Akihiko Kayaba had managed to capture his own brother in the game. Ayumu was as well respected in field of psychology as his brother was in computer gaming, even if Ayumu wasn't as pioneering. Was that the whole point of this? Was Akihiko trying to get back at his brother? Seijirou would have to interview Ayumu's wife. That was going to be a delicate process at best. Ayumu was going to need protecting. There were going to be a lot of people who wanted to hurt anyone associated with Akihiko Kayaba. Even though he knew better, it was hard to blame them.

. . .

 _Mills, Alexander._ This particular name had been put on the list as a precaution. He was one of the very minorities trapped in the game, and Seijirou had no intention of letting some nurse's old fashioned, insular, even xenophobic tendencies cost someone their life. It may well turn out to be unnecessary, but this was a matter of life and death. It wasn't a chance he was willing to take. All minorities would be attended to by screened physicians, but they probably didn't need to be moved to the VIP sector. They were at risk of negligence much more than they were at risk of harm. While the people who'd killed in self defense would be kept in higher security, the doctors of minorities would just have to be very carefully selected.

. . .

 _Yuuki, Asuna_. He heaved a sigh as he read over that particular name. That poor girl. He wasn't sure if it was better for her or worse for her to be stuck in the game right now, given all the things happening to her family. As cooperative as Shouzou had been with the Task Force, his company was still under heavy scrutiny because of their role in the co-development of Full Dive technology. The facts that his daughter was trapped in the game and that he had been nothing but cooperative thus far were the only things that had kept the government from asking him to transfer control of his company to his son before his son got back from America. That was an interview Seijirou would deal with tomorrow.

He rubbed his temples and heaved a heavy sigh. He had his work cut out for him. So far, all he'd been able to do was play catch up, to try and stay on top of information as it came out. He needed time to settle into this, to get things figured out, and try and work to get those players out of there, not just keep them comfortable while they fought for their lives. He just needed a little bit of time to think. When he'd accepted command of this task force, he'd taken responsibility for more than nine thousand lives. He didn't know what he was going to do. He barely knew how all of this worked yet, but he refused to let them down. He just needed time.

* * *

 **November 11, 2022**

 **Tokyo, Japan**

 **SAO Survivors: 9,401**

"I'm sorry we have to meet under these circumstances," Seijirou told the younger man as he gestured for him to sit. "I know this has been a hard time for you and your family, but you must understand the government's position on this matter."

The red-headed man slumped into the chair he was offered. He heaved a deep sigh, the weight of the past few days pressing down on him. Kouichirou took a moment to compose himself, then met Seijirou's gaze. He composed himself, pulling his shoulders back, trying his best to return the older man's professionalism despite his momentary lapse. "Yes, I understand," he finally responded, volunteering nothing.

"Good," Seijirou stated. "Then I'm sure you'll understand why we need to ask your father to step down until we complete our investigation." He paused, making sure the man didn't feel like anyone was being attacked, before continuing. "Your father and the members of his company's Full-Dive project are currently under suspicion of being accomplices to Kayaba in establishing his death game. I need to know if your father ever said or did anything that, looking back, might indicate that he knew all of this was coming."

"My sister is trapped in that game and you think my father is involved in it?" Kouichirou asked, taken aback. Kouichirou was still having a hard time processing all of this. He'd been away in America, meeting with Zaskar Incorporated about a potential international VRMMO. The idea was still in its infancy, but with Sword Art Online set to release, and RECT's own Alfheim online currently under development, father had seen it best to try to continue to establish RECT as one of the driving forces in the genre's early days. That's why when Zaskar had indicated their wish to meet, Shouzou had been willing to immediately send his own son. Winning the American market early would be a huge boon for RECT.

Kouichirou disconnected himself from the world as much as he could during these trips. He'd spent the day traveling and then had immediately found himself in meetings on and off until he'd managed to make his way to his hotel room. He hadn't even bothered to check his email or text his little sister. He'd been sure Asuna would understand. That was why he'd been more than a little surprised when the Zaskar employees the next day had asked him if he needed to go back to Japan and be with his family. It had been americans who had broken the news of Sword Art Online to him. He'd been on a plane before the day was out and left alone with his thoughts for the entirety of the trip. It had been a long, difficult trip. He'd had to tell himself more times than he could count that it wasn't his fault. He hadn't known what he was leaving for Asuna when he left that note. He'd tried to think about how to handle things from a business perspective, for a time, just to keep his mind off his guilt, to keep him from blaming himself for letting her use his Nervegear or his father for helping develop Full-Dive technology, but it hadn't worked. Zaskar had simply offered their condolences and informed him that they were interested in resuming talks at a better time. There wasn't anything for him to do but wait until he made his return trip to America. Somehow, that had just made everything harder.

Seijirou shook his head. "Personally, I don't think your father has anything to do with it. Professionally, I have to examine every possibility." Seijirou picked up the notes in front of him, glancing down through them. "I'm told that your father was opposed to either yourself or your sister playing Sword Art Online. He refused to help you acquire Nervegears. Is that correct?"

"Yes." Was that really what they were going off of? "That's true, but there are any number of parents who would rather their children not spend most of their time playing games online. That doesn't make him a criminal."

Seijirou shook his head again. "I'm not accusing your father of anything. I'm just checking my facts. If it is just a case of a parent making rules in his own house that run counter to their affairs in the outside world, it's an unfortunate coincidence. Hopefully that's all it is."

Kouichirou wasn't sure what the other man was getting at. "Is that the only reason you asked me here? To ask me about my father?" He would answer honestly, and he would go through with the interview, but it didn't seem like they needed to call him here just for that. It seemed like a waste of time during the important early phases of the investigation.

Seijirou answered the question with a question. "Your father has promoted you through his business quite quickly, has he not? I've heard the murmurs going around the office. A lot of people think it's nepotism."

Kouichirou eyes narrowed at the accusation. "I've earned everything my father has given me. Anyone who thinks he the doting sort of father who would just give his company to one of his children for the sake of blood doesn't know my father." His anger was starting to boil just beneath the surface. He hadn't had a difficult childhood, not in the sense of ever wanting for physical things, but his parents didn't understand people. His mother saw Asuna as a chance to live her own childhood dream of never being poor vicariously through her daughter. Father rarely spent any time with him that wasn't related to business. He and his sister weren't children, they were heirs, and their emotions were irrelevant. Anyone who said otherwise had never been around their family in private.

"Good." Seijirou told him flatly. "As I said earlier, we've asked your father to step down for the duration of the investigation. As his son, he has made it clear to us that he plans to ask you to take over in his absence, so long as you keep the department heads in place and let them do what they do best. I'd like to ask for your continued cooperation in this matter."

Kouichirou's expression remained unchanged, though some of the heat left his eyes. "Why are you telling me this instead of him?"

"The decision hasn't been officially made yet. He told me he was going to ask you if you wanted the position and that I would have to talk to you about any continued aid tomorrow."

"Then, assuming I believe you, why are we talking about this now?"

Seijirou paused for a moment, taking a deep breath, couching his next words carefully. "Because I needed to be sure you understood the how important your answer is to your sister's well-being." It was unfortunate, but there were no effective ways to phrase it that didn't sound like he was threatening the Yuukis.

"And what exactly is that supposed to mean?" Kouichirou asked. He doubted Seijirou had come all this way just to threaten his sister. Seijirou could have done that to Shouzou. Still, he didn't take kindly to the way it had been stated.

"RECT has the most extensive knowledge of how Full-Dive technology works. You may not have the Nervegear, exactly, but you have your own Full-Dive project. If you take over, you can guarantee that we have access to everything we need to give your sister the best chance to get out of that game alive. We can't guarantee anything, but we can give her the best possible chance. If control were to be given to some career businessman, could you guarantee she'd get that same chance?"

Kouichirou understood perfectly what Seijirou was getting at. Sugou, the head of the Full-Dive research division, certainly wouldn't be giving away any information he wasn't required to. As for the other division heads, he didn't know for sure if any of them had any stake in them. There was another aspect to this, something Seijirou probably knew he hadn't needed to mention. With Asuna locked in Sword Art Online, there was tremendous risk in putting anyone in charge that father didn't trust implicitly. If the person selected had enough of a grudge against father, they could make things difficult just to get back at him through his daughter. Kouichirou nodded. Of course he'd take the position. He owed it to his sister. He probably wouldn't be very active in the day to day running of the business, but he would be sure that things carried on smoothly in his father's absence. Most importantly, he would do everything he could to help the SAO Task Force. He owed Asuna that much. "Thank you, Mr. Kikuoka. Was there anything else you needed of me?"

Seijirou fought back a smile. "That's all for now. I'm sure we'll be in touch. There is much to do in the coming weeks." Seijirou said, gesturing towards the door. "Thank you for your time."

Kouichirou stood up, bowed, and walked out the door. He'd wanted something to keep his mind off of his guilt, to keep him from focusing on what he could have done differently. He'd gotten that in spades.

* * *

 **November 23, 2022**

 **Tokyo, Japan**

 **SAO Survivors: 8,989**

Seijirou rubbed at his temples, giving up on trying to read through the data on the computer-screen in front of him. He was getting to be worn down. The sheer scale of the task they'd finally begun in earnest, the transportation of the SAO victims to Tokyo to allow for better oversight, was enough to break anyone down. Casualty numbers had been starting to stabilize after spending two weeks in free fall, but it seemed that their attempts to transport players had caused a resurgence in the numbers. They were doing all they could, but sometimes it still felt like they were doing more harm than good. He heaved a deep sigh and leaned back in his chair. At least his meeting was Kouichirou was coming up soon. That would at least give him something else to think about.

None of their attempts to get into the game from the outside had shown any promise. Whatever Kayaba program Kayaba was using to keep people out was a piece of art. They'd keep working on that angle of attack, certainly, but there were still nearly nine thousand people counting on him. He wasn't going to bet everything on people's ability to hack SAO. He was already in the process of procuring working copies of the game, commissioned from Argus using powers bestowed upon his task force by the National Diet. Using them to send players in to help without using Nervegear, however, was going to be a larger task.

Kouichirou entered the room, taking a seat across from Seijirou. "Have you broken them out yet?" The younger man asked in what had become a ritual greeting between the two.

"Not yet. Just give a few more days," Seijirou responded. Unfortunately, both men knew the statement was either a jest or wishful thinking. Sometimes it was both.

"What can I do for you today?" Kouichirou asked, suddenly much more polite. "I've asked my developers to hand over everything they have pertaining to the science of the Full-Dive. How else can I help you?"

"Your VRMMO console, what was it called again? The Atmosphere?" Seijirou asked. RECT hadn't officially announced the device yet, and he'd had a thousand other things holding his attention lately.

Kouichirou shook his head and gave a hearty laugh. He'd been asked a similar question during his meeting with Zaskar. "The Amusphere. It's currently undergoing a redesign to decrease its power, to make sure it can't be used for anything like this. Why?"

"I need a few of them as soon as you can get them built. Call it beta testing."

Kouichirou found himself wearing his usual confused expression. Kikuoka had a way of drawing that out of him. "What do you need them for? How does beta testing the Amusphere have anything to do with SAO?"

"If you're right, and the Amusphere really can't kill anyone, then it would give us a way to put people in the game who could survive character death. It would mean that the players trapped on the inside wouldn't have to go to the front lines anymore. That would save a lot of lives, don't you think?"

Kouichirou nodded. It was clever in its simplicity. Every gamer had done it for years. When you couldn't do something on your own, get help. "But how are you planning on training them? You can't risk sending them in there too often and getting them noticed. Wouldn't that cause the same issue you've been having with your hacking attempts?"

Seijirou nodded in agreement. "Yes, I'd thought about that. How long until you finish your VRMMO? Would it be possible to get a stripped down version for training before insertion into SAO?"

Kouichirou shifted back in his chair, thinking. "Alfheim isn't expected to be market ready for at least a year, but my understanding is that most of the delays stem from the flying portions of the game. If you just wanted an SAO version without sword skills, that would probably be a matter of months. Don't quote me on that though. I may be doing as much as I can to help, but I'm still not a designer."

"I don't want to send anyone in until they're good and ready. We have some time to work through all of this. I'm grateful for all your help." He glanced back down at his computer screen, steeling himself for all the work that was left to do that day. "Thank you for your time. I'm sure you're a very busy man."

Kouichirou shook his head. "Thank you. I know your task force gets a hard time out there. People want their loved ones back. I understand you're doing all you can." Kouichirou rose, having said this, and bowed before he exited the room.

Seijirou heaved another sigh, shaking his head. Even if they could get people into the game, he couldn't risk doing things blindly. They had no idea what kind of world the players were in, how they treated each other, what the political landscape was, and they'd have to go in without knowing how to use sword skills. That necessitated two things if he wanted to make this plan work. First, he needed some way to get eyes on the inside of the game, and that probably meant sending someone in ahead. Secondly, they'd have to have players who were naturally good at video games or swordplay if they wanted to have any hope of getting them ready before the game was cleared without their influence. They were in the business of saving lives, and that meant doing things as quickly, and safely, as possible.

He picked up his phone, dialing the number for the Yokohama North General Hospital. It took a few moments, but a receptionist eventually picked up. "Yes, this is Seijirou Kikuoka, head of the SAO Task Force. I'd like to speak to Doctor Kurahashi." He had to wait a few minutes while everything was processed, but eventually he was put in contact with the doctor. "Doctor Kurahashi? I'd like you to begin testing on the Medicuboid," he announced. He smiled at the expected response. "Don't worry doctor. I'll take care of finding volunteers. Just make sure you have it online."

* * *

 **November 25, 2022**

 **Tokyo, Japan**

 **SAO Survivors: 8,736**

Kouichirou found himself sitting next to his sister's bed, leaning back in his chair, staring at the ceiling. He knew he shouldn't do this to himself. He knew that he shouldn't blame himself. Sometimes he couldn't help it. Right now, though, he was fine. He wasn't here to dwell on the past. He came here to remind himself why he was doing what he was doing. He came here to think. He breathed deeply, letting the burdens of the day roll away, and looked back down at his little sister.

She was seven years his junior, so it wasn't until only just recently that people had begun commenting on how similar they looked. It was true, on the surface. They'd both managed to end up with the same orange-red hair, the same hazel eyes, but his features were sharper than his sisters. Something he was sure he got from his mother. He was also a bit taller than her, though that was to be expected with the age and gender differences. She had the same passion he did, even if it was hard to get her to engage in anything enough to show it.

"It's been tough on Father, you know?" He told his sister's unmoving form. He didn't think that she could hear him, it just helped give him some sense of normalcy. It couldn't be that different from people talking to coma patients in the hospital. "They're still investigating him. Seijirou tells me that it's just a formality, but it hasn't helped his reputation. It's going to be tough on him coming back. I'm not sure he plans to ask me to hand the company back over to him immediately."

He ran his hands through his hair, scratching at the back of his neck. "Actually, that's what I'm afraid of. I only took this job to help you out. It's frustrating, the looks I get from other employees. I mean, I get it, it's practically unheard for for a twenty-two year old to run a company, but that doesn't make insubordination okay. Still, not too much I can do about it. If I'm hard on them, it just proves that they're right, and if I'm lax about it, it just shows that it's okay for them to gossip. Besides, it's not like I really do much more than supervise. I've got advisors and directors for just about everything."

He stood up and began pacing, suddenly finding it hard to sit still. "I'm not completely out of the loop though. I've been studying everything I can on anything that's seemed a bit odd to me. I've caught a couple of them trying to manipulate the system, trying to slip things by me that I don't know about. Haven't decided what to do about it yet. Don't know who to ask. Can't ask Father. That's one of the conditions of me taking over- he had to stay out of things. Can't ask any of my schoolmates- none of them have had to deal with anything close to this." He sighed, but some of the weight was coming off his shoulders. "I guess that means I'm asking you. What do you think?"

He paused, as if there were some chance she'd respond. When she said nothing, as expected, he spun his chair around so the back faced his sister and sat down, folding his arms on the top of the chair and resting his head on it. "Yeah, I know. But I've tried that approach. Apparently it's hard to pull off the strong, silent approach when you're half as old as the rest of the room. Also, apparently old jokes don't fly. Funny thing, that." What was he even doing?

He knew the answer, though. This wasn't for her, even if he wanted to pretend it was. He needed to voice things, things he couldn't talk to anyone else about. They'd been there for each other since Asuna was old enough to understand what was going on. It had been adorable, at times, seeing a four year-old trying to stand up for an eleven year old, but it had been touching. He'd never been ashamed of his little sister. He'd always done what he could to make time for her. She became a mascot for him and his friends when they hung out. Even while she was trapped in this infernal game, she could still listen to his problems. He gave a half-hearted smile. He had a wonderful sister. He'd accidentally put her in that game. Now it was his job to do everything he could to help her get through this.

"Mother misses you. I know you'd never believe it, but she doesn't actually care." He paused for a moment, again, as if letting her respond. "I know, right? I didn't believe it either, at first. Father's been home a bit more, lately. He doesn't say much, but I know he misses you. It's tearing him apart, having you trapped in something he helped develop. Even if they find him innocent, I think it's going to be a long time before he's willing to accept it. Mother's not been the most supportive of him, either. I don't know if she blames him for things or if it's just the sudden loss of position. I _really_ hope it's just a shock thing. Don't want you to come back and be missing a parent."

He spun the seat back into a more normal position and leaned back, the other position having become trying on his back. He sighed, though not as deeply as he'd become accustomed to as of late. "You guys are pretty popular. They've got rich people from all over the world lining up to donate to help support the victims of 'One of the Deadliest Terror Attacks of All Time'," the headline was a bit of an amalgamation of the various ones he'd seen, not that she'd know he wasn't quoting exactly. "They still think this is a terrorist attack. I don't think so. Not anymore. Kayaba hasn't said anything. No threats, no demands, no nothing. I'm starting to think he just did this for the fun of this. Almost makes me wish he _had_ an agenda."

He trailed off there. He'd been motor mouthing, telling her whatever came to mind. He didn't have much left to say, now. He reached out and took her hand in a gesture that, for most of his life, had been meant to reassure and comfort a scared or hurt Asuna. Now, the tables were turned, he found. Her hand was warm, but she didn't take his hand. Her hand didn't move. Somehow, that made everything cut all the deeper. She'd always gripped at his hand, sometimes until it hurt, because she needed her brother. Now, she couldn't even do that.

"You be careful in there. I hear they're going to be moving you in the next few days. Hopefully you'll get lucky and they'll take you at night when you're not doing anything dangerous, but they can only afford so many people for this job. I've heard there have been a lot of casualties during the moving process. You stay on your toes, alright?" He gripped her hand harder, as if that somehow would help get his point across. "You take care of yourself, alright?" He released her hand and began to get up, before remembering he had one last thing to say. "Love you, little Asu. We're going to get you through this. I promise."

* * *

 **November 28, 2022**

 **Tokyo, Japan**

 **Online Users: 8,446**

Suguha had been grateful when she'd finally returned to school. It had taken a week before her mom and dad were ready to start trying to slip back into a normal routine, and Suguha had spent as much time as she could making sure Kazuto was okay. She hadn't just sat in his room for a week, she'd found plenty to occupy her. She'd just made sure that she took all of it into his room. Maybe part of her had been hoping he'd wake up. Part of her just wanted to know he was alive. She knew she couldn't actually do anything to help, but sitting there had made her feel better.

Going back to school had given her something to focus on. Between homework and Kendo, she barely gave herself any time to dwell on what was going on. When she had her shinai in her hand, the rest of the world seemed to fade away. She'd been working herself to the point of exhaustion nearly every day. Her grades and her physical health had never been in better condition. Mentally, however, she was still pretty fragile.

It had taken almost a week for people to stop talking about the SAO incident with her. She knew they meant well. They just wanted to offer their sympathy or to ask how she was dealing with it. The issue was, she _wasn't_ dealing with it. Unless she'd pushed herself to the point where she simply couldn't do anything else that night, she checked in on her brother every single night. She never stopped to process the thoughts that had plagued her that first night.

Yesterday, they'd finally taken Kazuto to a hospital. It was nice to know that he was finally getting proper help, but now he was a half hour away and she had to deal with the emptiness of his room. She'd made sure to shut the door when they'd left with him, but habit had taken her back into the room that night. The sight of his empty bed had been chilling. It took her a few moments just to remember why he wasn't there, she'd become so accustomed to the sight.

That's why she was visiting him today. Her mom had noticed the change in her, had noticed the incredible new drive that she put into everything. Suguha's grades were the highest they'd ever been. Minetaka's father had told her how well Suguha was doing in the Dojo. Midori couldn't think of any reason not to take her. Suguha was taking it hard, was still spending whatever time she could with her brother, but Midori certainly couldn't blame her. She would have done the same for her own sister. Besides, Midori wasn't usually home early enough to take the girl, and Minetaka was getting ready to leave on business again. It was only right that Sugu was given every possible chance to see her brother.

"It's not fair!" Suguha raged from her spot at Kirito's bedside. "It's not fair! What kind of man builds a game, gets _thousands_ of people's hopes up, and then finds a way to use his game as some kind of death trap?" Even weeks after the incident, there were times that she couldn't look at her brother without having to fight tears or the urge to yell. Sometimes both. Seeing him here, like this, had hit her harder than she'd expected. "People saved up and wait for months for that game!" She still couldn't process the idea that someone was so monstrous as to commit this act. People waited in line for days just to get themselves trapped in the Death Game. People warped their lives just for some chance to play some stupid game, and now they were all lying in hospital beds.

The warmth of her mother's hand on her back wasn't enough to stop the tears from flowing. "It's not fair. It's not. . . I didn't even get to say goodbye. Why? Why was. . ." she paused, fighting back the tears. "Why was it so hard to talk to me? What'd I do, Kazu?" She gripped her brother's arm desperately. "I just. . . I just want to go back. . . I want to make things better. . ." she paused again, wiping her tears on her sleeve. "If you'd just gone to practice with me, you'd still be here. You'd. . . you'd still be here. . ." her voice began to fade. She couldn't form words. She put her head down next to her brother and let the tears flow. This was part of what she'd been trying to avoid. It had just come crashing out of her. She'd known it would, eventually. She picked her head up and looked at her brother. She didn't hate him. She didn't harbor any hint of ill will towards him. At least, she hadn't thought that she did. But suddenly, there it was. Wrath began welling up in her. "What'd I do? What made you push me away? What was so bad that you couldn't stand being around me? You'd still be here if you'd just let it go." She was almost taken aback at her own words. She knew that she wouldn't feel this way tomorrow. She knew she'd regret this, but something had loosed an anger she hadn't known was there.

Midori tightened her grip on her daughter's shoulder. She'd been afraid something like this would happen eventually. She'd been warring with herself ever since the incident over whether she should tell Suguha the truth about Kazuto. Even though she was rarely home, Midori had noticed that Kazuto had pushed Suguha away the same way he'd pushed away everyone else. Kazuto wasn't exactly subtle about it. Poor Suguha was the only person who didn't know what was going on.

Suguha felt her mother's hand, but was focused exclusively on her poor brother. "I love you, big brother. Please. I just want to know what I did. Why couldn't we talk to each other? Why couldn't we hang out? I know you cared enough to help with homework. Why not anything else?" The tears had mostly subsided for the moment, despite the tempest of emotion roiling inside of her. "Kazu, please wake up. Please just wake up. We can go do Kendo together. I can play one of your silly games with you. You can even go back to ignoring me, if that's really want you want. Just please wake up. Please. . ." She found that her voice was failing her again. She grabbed his arm again, instinctively holding onto him, refusing to let go. She'd seen the numbers in the news. There were so many people dead already, and no one knew how close they'd gotten to getting out of that stupid game yet. She couldn't stand the thought of Kazuto just ceasing to be. Of him laying in this hospital bed, alive one moment, gone the next. She wanted so much to have her brother back. She just wanted to be normal siblings. Was that so much to ask?

Midori gently reached around and removed Suguha's hand from Kazuto's arm, then pulled her daughter into a tight embrace. She was shaking her head, tears starting to form in her own eyes after watching her little girl's plight. "Oh, sweetie, it's not your fault. None of this is your fault."

Suguha shook her head and looked up at her mother through her tear-filled eyes. "Of course it's my fault, Mommy. He couldn't stand being around me." Part of her knew this wasn't true. He did help her when she asked. Another part of her was holding her back, keeping from saying anything to her mom that she might regret later. Keeping her from telling her that she wasn't home enough to know anything.

Midori rubbed the young girl's back. "No, sweetie. Kazu loves you. It's just. . . it's complicated. He's a boy. Boys don't know how to show their emotions." Suguha just buried her head again, leaving her mom staring down at her distraught daughter. Midori didn't know if Sugu had looked away out of disbelief, or if it was just another outlet for the pain she'd been holding in for so long now. Midori didn't regret bringing Suguha here. The girl needed healing. This was a necessary part of that. It just didn't make things any easier on Midori as a mother.

Midori bit her lip. Finally, she shook her head, deciding it was time to tell her little girl the whole truth of the situation. "It's our fault, Sugu, not yours," she managed to force out. She continued rubbing her daughter's back. Midori hoped Suguha had heard her over her own crying and the softness of Midori's voice.

Suguha looked back up at her mother, a whole new level of confusion washing over her. "What do you mean, it's your fault? You never did anything." Again, Suguha found herself biting back words of bitterness. _You were never there. What could you have done?_

"Kazu's not your brother, Sugu. He's your cousin." Midori just long enough for the statement to register, but continued before Suguha could begin asking questions. "He's my sister's son. I'm sorry you never got meet her. Aoi would have loved you. She and her husband were in a car accident. Kazu made it, but they. . ." she paused, breathing deeply to clear her head, "they didn't. I couldn't watch him live as an orphan, Sugu. Your father and I adopted him shortly after you were born. We never told him. We didn't want either of you to know. You were both our children. We love Kazu just as much as you. We didn't want it to change things between the two of you." She paused again, reliving that scene. Kazuto had been so furious when he'd stumbled on the documentation of his adoption. "Kazuto found out while he was on the internet. Kazuto felt hurt, and your father felt like he was being ungrateful. Something broke between them that day. Since then, Kazuto's been pushing all of us away. It doesn't feel like family to him anymore."

Suguha couldn't form words anymore. She just stared up at her mother, bewildered, blind-sided by the revelation. It was a lot to process. The big brother she'd looked up to her whole life suddenly wasn't her big brother. But he was, wasn't he? He always would be. At least, he always should be. It was going to take her a while to figure that out. She opened her mouth to speak, but her words failed her.

"Kazu just doesn't know how to treat you anymore. There have been some bad fights between him and your father ever since Kazu found out. None of us have handled this the way we should have, but we can't change any of that now. I'm sorry, Sugu. You haven't done anything wrong. We just wanted to protect you, but you've been hurt by all of this just the same. I'm so sorry, Sugu. You didn't do anything wrong."

Suguha didn't know what to think. More than that, she was barely thinking properly at all. Her world had suddenly shifted a few degrees, and nothing quite looked right anymore. She didn't know how she felt, what she wanted, or what all of this meant. Right now, she was just happy that her mom was willing to give her a shoulder to cry on. And she was happy, knowing that it really wasn't her fault that Kazu had stopped talking to her.

* * *

 **A/N:** Writing this chapter a second time around after having lost my own sibling definitely put things in a different light. Like chapter 2, a bit hard to write, but well worth it, I think.

Regarding the size of the Interlude, these Interludes are going to be larger than normal chapters because we see these characters a lot less often. I hope you enjoyed this, because we'll be revisiting these characters every now and again. I was originally planning for the stories to connect near floor 75. Let me know if you guys are interested in seeing things happen sooner. No promises, but I'd love to hear from you all.

Not all Interludes are going to be about the real world though. We'll get stories for a lot of our favorite characters as the narrative rolls along.


	9. Interlude 2 - The Extractors

**A/N:** It's alive! I won't try to go into all the details about what happened, just suffice it to say that it was a rough year, but I'm back, and I still have the passion for this story. Thanks for your patience.

Apologies for the brevity of the chapter, but I felt it better to announce my return with a completed section than to try and 'make up' for lost time with something huge. The size will return to normal in the future, or will return to whatever I can manage consistently.

About the Interludes, they don't always mark the end of an Arc. There will be one between arcs, at least for a while, but they also are my way of time-skipping without time-skipping. It won't be a huge jump, but it lets me cover something that's going on over a few weeks where maybe our trio isn't doing anything all that interesting. We'll be getting interludes focusing on plenty of different characters of the course of Primordials.

As for the Arcs, we're in the second arc. The first was the Tutorial Arc, which was floor one. We're currently in the Witch Hunt. I have more planned, but that would be telling.

Sorry for the long opening AN, but sometimes things need to be said. We'll be getting back to Kirito and company next chapter, but worry not, there's plenty of new things going on in this chapter that didn't happen in canon.

* * *

 **December 1, 2022**

 **Yokohama North General Hospital**

Seijirou Kikouka sighed as he drummed his fingers against his leg impatiently. It had been a long time since he'd had to wait for anything. Being the director of the SAO Task Force had a few perks, after all, despite the immense pressure it put on him. The National Diet had given him fairly wide discretion in how to attack the problem, but, sadly, Kayaba had been pretty thorough in locking down his hostages. Those poor people had been in there for a month already, and Seijirou felt like he was just bashing his head against the wall. Nothing he tried was accomplishing anything. The Extraction Project was the only thing that was offering him any hope at the moment.

He rubbed the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath to clear his head. This was a long term rescue mission. He'd known that when he'd taken the job. He'd also known ahead of time he didn't have the authority to rush these people. You couldn't order a doctor to do anything faster than the patient could handle. Not the terminal care ward.

The opening of elevator doors pulled him from his thoughts. A young doctor gestured for Kikouka to follow, and Seijirou wordlessly joined him. Once the doors had closed, the doctor bowed formally. "Mister Kikuoka, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Doctor Hikari Kurahashi. My apologies if I seemed rude earlier, but you asked that your visit be kept under wraps, and I guessed you'd prefer me not call out your name."

Seijirou bowed in return, then shook his head. "No offense taken, Doctor Kurahashi. Thank you for agreeing to meet me. How are the girls doing?" Seijirou refused to think of them as subjects. He could live with what he was here to do, but he wasn't going to dehumanize these poor souls just so he wouldn't feel as bad if the worst came to pass.

"The children are doing as well as can be expected, for people in their position. We haven't told them anything about what you plan to talk to them about, just that you represent the government," Hikari informed his guest. "The older one wants to meet with you alone, regardless, before you speak to her sister."

Seijirou didn't let anything show on his face. "I thought the two of them did everything together?" The elevator stopped as Seijirou spoke, and doctor Kurahashi led the two out.

"They usually do, but Aiko's perceptive. Anytime we have something like this come up, she always wants to be the point of contact. She hates to see her sister hurt, and a lot of people come by offering trial procedures. Nothing's helped, and I think she wants to spare Yuuki needlessly getting her hopes up again."

Seijirou shook his head, again wondering if he should really be doing this. "Those girls have been through a lot, haven't they?"

Hikari gave a sad smile in response. "They've been through more in their few years than you and I have in our entire lifetimes. That's why I gave you access. Whatever's involved, you can give them something I can't. You can take some of that pain away. You can let them at least feel healthy for a while."

"You're more confident about this than I am, doctor."

"Well, we're here, so if you've got cold feet, this is going to be your last chance to back out," Kurahashi placed his hand on the doorknob, knowing full well that it was too late for the other man to back out. At a nod from Seijirou, Kurahashi opened the door.

It only just now occurred to Seijirou that at no point had he or the doctor needed to put on any equipment for the safety of the Konno girls, and now he could see why. The visitors' room was pretty sparse, just a few chairs on either side of the room and a glass divider in middle. A brunette, one of the twins, Aiko, was standing in the middle of her half of the room, wearing a medical gown and a small headset. He was surprised at how healthy she looked, but he remembered reading that the girls had been fortunate to have their infection diagnosed at a very early age. If one could really call childhood HIV lucky. There was no cure, and they weren't expected to live to see twenty, but this was still the place that gave them the best chance of having a happy, comfortable life. What he had to offer was going to take away their pain. He shouldn't have misgivings about that.

He stepped closer to the glass. "Hello, I'm Seijirou Kikuoka. I'm representing the - what?" The girl was shaking her head at him and tapping her headset. Seijirou turned to look at his companion, who was smirking behind him, holding a matching headset. "You did that on purpose, didn't you?" He asked, half-joking.

"You don't want her to be intimidated by you, do you?" Doctor Kurahashi replied, flashing him a quick smirk. Seijirou didn't exactly have a counter to that.

He placed the device on his ear, made sure it was on, and then resumed. "I'm sorry about that. I'm Seijirou Kikuoka. I represent the SAO Task Force." A look of surprise registered on the young girl's face. "I'm here to ask for your help with something called the Extraction Project."  
The girl was squinting at him now, obviously trying to piece things together. "You want us to Dive into SAO, don't you?"

Well, that made explanations easier, but Seijirou couldn't keep the surprise off of his face this time. Kurahashi had said she was perceptive, but that seemed to be a bit of an understatement now. He shook his head, taking the moment to compose himself. "Yes, that's a part of it. Do you mind if I have a seat, Aiko?" The girl shook her head, so Seijirou pulled up one of the chairs behind him and sat down across from Aiko. He was a still a little taller than her, but it wasn't as noticeable now. "So, how did you figure that out?"

She shrugged. "There weren't too many options. Sword Art Online has nothing to do with medicine, but there were a couple of people who came by talking about how Full Dive equipment could let us simulate real life. I made an educated guess."

Seijirou found himself again surprised with the girl. "You speak pretty well for someone your age."

Aiko shrugged again. She was used to people reacting like this around her. "We've been raised by television, medical books, and scientists. I guess I picked up a few words along the way."

Seijirou chuckled at her frankness. "Fair enough. You're right, of course. We do want you two to Dive into Sword Art Online. We haven't been able to get anyone's Nervegear off yet. Honestly, we haven't pushed the matter too much. I refuse to have any more deaths on my hands. There are other things we plan to try where that's concerned, but that's not what why I'm here. Akihiko Kayaba said that the only way for the players to get out was to finish the game, and I plan to accelerate that as best I can."

"And that's where we come in?" Aiko interjected.

Seijirou nodded. "If we can insert players, and that's a big if, since there's no guarantee that SAO's Cardinal system won't just reject the new players, but if we can, then we can hopefully create a small group of players who don't have to fear death. At the very least, they'd be perfect scouts for the players who only get one chance through the game."

"I thought you hadn't figured out how to stop the Nervegear from killing the player."

"We haven't, but we're developing an alternative system, something that doesn't pack enough power to kill someone even if it wanted to."

"Then why ask us about this now? Why get our hopes up for something that may not even happen?"

"Because this hospital had been working with Kayaba on a medical application of Full Dive technology. I reactivated the Medicuboid project weeks ago. I believe they've already spoken to you and your sister about it."

Aiko nodded silently. Seijirou could tell that she was trying to piece everything together like she had earlier. He wasn't going to make her do it this time. "The Medicuboid is everything that they said it was going to be. You were willing to test it. I'm just asking you to help people while you do it."

Aiko shook her head this time. "You said you were developing something that was weak enough that it couldn't kill anyone, but there's no way the Medicuboid is that weak."

Seijirou gave a deep sigh. "No. No it's not. If you use the Medicuboid, I can't guarantee that you'll survive dying in the game. That's why I was only going to ask one of you to try it. We're doing our best to isolate and eliminate whatever it is that enables him to kill people, but we won't know for sure until something happens the first time."

"Then why did you want both of us?" Aiko asked. Seijirou couldn't get any sort of read on her tone. Was she hurt? Angry?

"Because I could guarantee that one or both of you would be able to be a part of the Extraction Project. I'm not heartless. I won't force you to risk your life for people you've never met. But the Medicuboid will truly improve your standard of living. It's built to help in ways that the Nervegear can't."

She met his gaze and spoke with a certainty that belied her youth. "You don't have to convince me, Mister Kikuoka. I believe that the dead should fight for the living. I'll do it on two conditions. The first is that you make sure that Yuuki is the first person to get to use the fixed version, no matter what happens to me."

Seijirou nodded. "Of course. That was always the plan. What else did you need?"

For the first time in the conversation, Aiko hesitated. She took a deep breath, released it, then finally spoke. "I want to be baptized."

Seijirou had no response for several moments. He'd been dealing with the SAO crisis since it started. He thought he'd seen everything, and yet this girl had left him speechless twice today. Still, he figured, it couldn't hurt to humor her. "I guess that wouldn't be an issue. Sprinkling you with a little water shouldn't be that bad, should it?" he responded as he turned his head to look at doctor Kurahara. The doctor was shaking his head.

"Not sprinkled, Mister Kikuoka, baptized. Immersed," Aiko clarified from behind him. "I'm willing to fight for these people, to give up my life for them, but not my soul. I want to be right with God before I do this."

"I'm afraid I can't approve of this," Doctor Kurahara spoke from behind Seijirou. "She's asked for this before and we've told her no before. With her immune system, the last thing we need is to plunge her into cold water for no reason."

Seijirou turned back to face Aiko. "Your doctor doesn't seem to share your enthusiasm for this."

Aiko shrugged. "It doesn't mean anything to him."

"And why does it mean so much to you? There are plenty of other things to ask for."

"Because its my soul, and because I want to obey my God's will."

"And being immersed in water does that? Why does it matter? Don't most Christians believe that just believing is enough?"

She clenched her fists. She was not going to be denied this. Not today. Not anymore. It didn't matter if anyone agreed with her. Even Yuuki told her it was unnecessary. "The scriptures tell us multiple times that we need to be baptized. Why does it matter to you if I agree with the majority or not?"

"Don't encourage her, Mister Kikuoka. We've given her our answer," came Kurahara's voice from behind him. "She's a child. She doesn't understand that we can't let her do this for her own good."

Seijirou turned around and glared at Kurahara. "Do you believe in anything, doctor? I don't, personally. I can't fathom of an all loving god that would allow something like this current crisis to happen, and I've never found much use for the traditional gods of this country. I don't subscribe to the teachings of Buddha. I don't believe in any of that supernatural stuff, but I made those decisions on my own, by asking questions and finding answers. I wasn't much older than her when I started, and I had plenty of other things to distract me. I don't care what you believe, I expect you to respect hers."

Kurahara found himself stunned into silence. He hadn't expected someone like Kikuoka to the type of man to enable these sort of supernatural fantasies. He'd tried to get the girls to stop paying attention to their holy texts for some time now. After all, how could either one of them believe in a god that had allowed them to be born like this?

"I haven't said 'no', Aiko," Seijirou told her, holding his hands up, doing his best to use his body language to tell her that he was on her side. "I just want to know why you believe this. If nothing else, I just want to know a little bit more about you. What makes you believe in your God to the expense of all others?"

"I believe His message. I believe that this world isn't the end. That Satan may plague us from birth to death, but that there's something beyond that. There's no other gospel of love. I believe that this treacherous body is not the only one that I'll have. How do I live without that hope? And does it really matter to you whether I believe it because of emotion or cold logic? I believe it. I believe it with all of my heart. I will go into the Medicuboid with no second thoughts, but only after I know that I've done what I feel I need to do in the eyes of God."

Seijirou smiled. "I can live with that. I expect you'll want to talk to your sister before you go, though."

Aiko's face lit up. "Wait, you really mean it?"

Sejirou nodded. "Would you be willing to get started today, if possible? People are dying. I can't afford to waste time." He paused for a moment, turning to look at Kurahara. "I'm authorizing this. Do whatever you need to do to satisfy yourself with regards to safety. You can sterilize the water, have everyone else wear hazmat suits, whatever makes you happy, but we're going to do this." Kurahara just sighed and shrugged in response, then stepped outside to start making arrangements.

Aiko nodded. "I'll do whatever you need me to do. Just make sure Yuuki gets taken care of, please. I've been looking out for her since we were born."

Seijirou's smile stayed on his face. "You're still looking out for her now. Now, do you need a holy man to come and baptize you? Do you have the phone number for your pastor? How do you do that sort of thing in here?"

Aiko shook her head. "We stream his sermons and do the best we can for Communion, but you don't need to bother him. You can do it."

Seijirou didn't try to mask his surprise. "Why me? I don't believe in any of this."

"It's not your belief that matters. It's mine. I'm not sure where people get the idea that you have to be baptized by a believer, but I've never found it in my time reading the scriptures."

"So long as it doesn't bother you, I'm fine with it. I just want to get things taken care of." Seijirou was surprised by how easy this ended up being. She'd proven to be far more willing than he'd dared hope, and her only requests weren't going to cost him anything. "Do you spend a lot of time reading your Bible?" he asked, to make conversation and kill time as much as curiosity about this surprising young girl.

"Mom used to read it to us when we were really little. She read it to us every night. I've done my best to carry on with that ever since she passed away."

Seijirou was surprised by the lack of sadness in the girl's voice. Someone this young shouldn't be referencing the death of a parent so matter-of-factly. Before he could reply, however, he heard the door open behind him.

"If you'll come with me, mister Kikuoka, we need to finish getting everything ready," Doctor Kurahara managed to make the suggestion an annoyed order.

Seijirou gave Aiko another smile as he rose, "Well, it looks like you're getting your wish." The father in him marveled at the sheer joy on the little girl's face. How long had she been fighting for this? Given the risks he was asking this child to undertake, this was definitely the least he could do. As for the younger of the twins, he'd approach her after Aiko had started her training in the Medicuboid. He wasn't so heartless as to send the girl in blind, after all. He might even be able to put the two of them in the same training program, so they'd have a little bit more time together before Aiko was stuck in SAO indefinitely. It would also give Yuuki a bit of a head start as an extractor.

Doctor Kurahara led down the hall and helped Seijirou put a hazmat suit on over his suit. When Seijirou started to protest the move as overkill, Kurahara was quick to remind him that the girls had to remain in a sterile environment at all times. That was why this undertaking was such an ordeal in the first place. Seijirou didn't press the matter. It didn't seem like that big a deal to him, but the special needs cases might use up enough resources that they didn't want to encourage these sort of requests. Still, the doctor had been highly dismissive of Aiko's beliefs, and that might play more into than the doctor would admit. Seijirou didn't really care. It was going to get done now.

Kurahara led him from there to a pressurized door and the two men stepped through. They were forced to wait for a moment, while the air in the room was filtered for the sake of its inhabitants. When the door finally admitted them, he wasn't surprised by the austerity of the room. The tub of water came up to his waist. He didn't ask what they usually used it for, but it was obvious that they had just grabbed the first thing they could find that would hold enough water. Aiko was standing in it, a smile on her face. "Is there anything special I need to do or say?"

She shook her head. "You'll just need to plunge me under the water once I've made my confession of faith."

"That's all there is to it?" Seijirou asked. "What do you need me for, can't you do that yourself?"

Aiko shrugged. "I don't pretend to understand the workings of His mind, I just do what He wills," she admitted candidly. She took a deep breath, preparing herself. She exhaled slowly, motioning him over. When he reached her, she spoke again. "I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God." He looked at her, and she nodded that she was ready. He placed one hand on her head and the other on her back and gently dipped her into the water, pulling her out a couple seconds later. The two of them both ignored the annoyed stare of doctor Kurahara.

"That's it?" Seijirou asked her.

"That's it!" Aiko told him, beaming. She didn't feel that different, but that wasn't important to her. She hadn't done this based on some gut feeling. She'd done it because she knew it was the right thing to do. "So when do we start in the Medicuboid? I just need to talk to Yuuki a little first."

Seijirou had to admit, this girl had made quite the first impression on him. He eagerness and earnestness were refreshing. He'd gotten lucky; she apparently hadn't been kidding earlier about wanting to help. "It's been an eventful day for you already. You spend some time tonight with your sister. I'll be back tomorrow."

* * *

 **December 22, 2022**

 **National Hospital Organization Tokyo Medical Center**

 **Online Users: 7,951**

Suguha had fallen into a new routine ever since she'd learned the truth about Kazuto. It hadn't changed how she felt about him. As far as she was concerned, he was still her big brother, and he was in a really bad place right now. She knew that he could pass away at any moment. She could usually keep that thought locked up in the back of her mind, but sometimes it clawed its way out. She hadn't cried in weeks, but sometimes the sheer helplessness she felt pushed her to the brink of it. That's why she spent most of her time here after school. Being close by helped, even if she knew she couldn't really do anything to help, she could be here for him, even if he didn't know.

She was sitting in the visitor's chair, her homework on her lap and textbook open next to her. She'd just finished scrolling through alerts on her phone, glancing through whatever articles looked interesting to her. She'd set up a bunch of alerts for news articles pertaining to SAO back in the days just after the news broke about Kayaba's trap. There was a lot of overlap in what the articles said, and a lot of them were unhelpful opinion pieces, but in the early days, the casualty reports had always horrified her, but she'd been glad to be able to check. Now she didn't bother checking those. She'd rather find out when she arrived at the hospital. She didn't know if it would hurt more or less, but it would at least feel more real. She'd also had to learn to let go of her anger over people who suggested that keeping the SAO victims on life support was a waste of resources, that Japan should just let them all go since they weren't going to get out anyway. Suguha hadn't truly known what hate was until she first read one of those articles. At this point, she really probably could get rid of most of the alerts. The only articles she still read were the articles about the SAO Task Force, and they seemed to be trying to keep things as quiet as possible with regards to their actions. It made sense, since it wasn't unreasonable to assume that Kayaba could check the news, but it was still frustrating.

She put her phone down next to her textbook and turned her attention to the matter at hand. She picked up her pen and started twirling it absently in her hand as she read through her notes, mentally trying to reconstruct what her teacher had told her in class. She'd found that her schoolwork, math in particular, had actually gotten a lot better since the incident. She was pushing herself now, as if somehow proving to Kazuto that she could do her homework on her own was going to give him anything less to worry about. She knew that her improved focus probably had more to do with using her studies as an escape than anything.

She looked over at her brother, frowning at the state of him. His hair was starting to grow out and he'd lost a bit of weight, but she knew there wasn't anything the orderlies could do about that. For some reason, most likely time, it had been decided that, while they'd trim the nails of the SAO patients, their hair would be allowed to grow out. She'd asked them why once, but she hadn't been given a straight answer. Still, she tried not to get frustrated with the hospital workers. They really were just trying to help. "You look terrible," she told him. She knew he couldn't hear her, but it made her feel better. And sometimes, she allowed herself the hope the he could.

A knock on the door stopped her attempt at conversation. She put her pen and homework on top of her textbook as she stood to answer the door. She figured it was Mom or Dad. They came by from time to time, but their work schedule kept them from being here as often as she was. It had taken her a while to understand. At first, it seemed to her like they didn't care. Eventually, she'd realized that life had to move on, but that didn't mean that it didn't hurt them as much as it hurt her. She was surprised to find that it wasn't her parents or any of Kazuto's (admittedly few) friends. She knew she'd never met the man before, but he carried himself with that typical air of someone used to being listened to. That official air made him seem at least a little familiar.

The man glanced over her before speaking. "Are you Suguha Kirigaya?" he finally asked.

She looked at him warily. "Uh, yeah, that's me. Why?" She was too flustered to come up with anything more articulate.

The man smiled at her response and strode into the room, coming to a stop next to Kirito. "My name is Seijirou Kikuoka. I work for the Internal Affairs and Telecommunications Bureau. I-"

"You're the leader of the SAO Task Force!" Suguha exclaimed, suddenly realizing why he seemed familiar. She'd read about him in what few articles she could find on the Task Force. If he was here, that had to mean that they'd found a solution, right? He was here to help all the patients unplug from the system. Hope and excitement had suddenly overridden her logic and reasoning. "You've solved it, right? You're not just here to check on him, are you?"

Seijirou turned to look at her, a sad smile on his face. Oh, for the hope of youth. He should have been more surprised that she knew who he was, but he was more taken aback by the fact that she thought he might have solved the problem. So far, he'd run into a wall with everything except for Aiko's training and the potential he'd found in the Extraction Project. Not that he even knew for sure that the Cardinal System would allow for the insertion of new players, but there was no use in assuming that Kayaba's defenses were perfect. "I'm sorry, but no. We're working on it, but Kayaba did a very good job in creating his trap. I'm actually here for you. Your parents told me where to find you."

Suguha's confusion showed on her face. "Why would you be here for me? I don't know anything about computers. Shouldn't you be looking for Kayaba or trying to figure out what's going on in SAO?"

Luckily for Suguha, Seijirou was growing accustomed to working with children. He hadn't shown up expecting her to just take everything at face value or to show as much respect for his rank as an adult would. "Believe me, my people are doing as much as they can on that front. It's refreshing to see how much you care about your brother." He opened a briefcase he'd been carrying since he walked in and began leafing through its contents. He produced a file and set the briefcase down, leaning it against his own leg. He picked out one piece of paper from the file and pulled it to the front. "I'm working on alternate approaches to the problem. That's where people like you come in."

"We're working on a safer version of the Nervegear. Something people can use to play these sort of games without fearing for their lives. More than that, though I think it presents the key to getting people out of SAO with the fewest possible casualties. I'll send you an email when everything is read to go." He presented the paper to her as he continued. "Read through that and give it some thought. Until we meet again, Miss Kirigaya, good luck with your kendo. I'd keep at it, if I were you. It just might help you save your brother."

Suguha couldn't find the words to respond before Seijirou picked up his briefcase and left the room. How was her kendo ability going to help get her brother out of a video game? What was he talking about? How was getting people to play games like that deathtrap going to help? Her head was swimming. She focused her eyes on her brother's still form, and took a deep breath to center herself. His image put things into focus. If this could somehow help, she'd do whatever was in her power. She looked down at the paper she'd accepted from him, focusing on the title.

Project Extraction.

* * *

 **A/N:** Alright, big one out of the way first. This chapter is neither an affirmation or condemnation of religion. None of the arguments are meant to be strawmen (I've heard or used most in my lifetime) and neither are meant to be exhaustive studies on the subject. This is simply showing how important religion is to one of the characters. Feel free to disagree with any or all of them, but don't let that distract from what the scene is: a young girl standing up for herself. To dismiss religion is to lose a basic part of humanity. Anyone who's watched Battlestar Galactica knows how much poorer that show would be for the lack or religion.

So there you go, the promised second half of the interlude. We will be moving back to our usual cast next chapter. I apologize again for the brevity of this one, but I felt that it was more productive to get back to producing content than to sit back and wait for it to be perfect.

I will not be setting deadlines for myself (I found that they hurt more than they helped), but I hope to produce new chapters at a rate of about one every week or week and a half. Faster if I decide that I want to do shorter chapters.

Next Chapter: The return of the big three and SAO through Aiko/Ran's eyes. Also, boss fight coming up soon.


End file.
